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Destruction of Armenian khachkars (cross-stones) of Jugha (Julfa) Nakhichevan by Azerbaijan
Armenian khachkar (cross-stone) is one of the distinct characteristics of Armenian Christian identity. Khachkars are found in Asia Minor, specifically in Armenian highland also referred as Eastern Anatolia Region.



First signs of Armenian civilization in this region were recorded 1500-1200 BCE. In 301 AD, Armenia became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion [1]. Jugha (Julfa) was one of the cultural and spiritual centers of historic Armenian Nakhichevan. According to Old Testament, Noah resided in Nakhichevan where he built his arch. Armenians have a long spiritual and historic tie with this land since it is believed that life after the great flood began from Armenian highland that includes Nakhichevan region.



In July 1920, the 11th Soviet Red Army invaded and occupied the Armenian Nakhichevan, later Soviets included Nakhichevan as an autonomous region of Soviet Azerbaijan SSR. Since 1920’s Azerbaijani government actively began rewriting the history and destroying any and all signs of Armenian heritage in Nakhichevan. According to an Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR), the Medieval Armenian cemetery of Jugha (Julfa) in Nakhichevan, with its medieval Armenian headstones called khachkars (2,000 were still extant in the 1980s), was destroyed in 2006 [2] by Azerbaijani government. Regrettably, UNESCO has never held Azerbaijan’s leaders accountable for the complete destruction of its Orthodox Christian heritage within the region of Nakhichevan. Instead, UNESCO seems eager to accept Azerbaijan’s rewriting of history. But the 2005 annihilation of Djulfa’s magnificent cross-stones is a cultural crime that neither UNESCO nor the Azeri government can deny [3]. The khachkars of Jugha (Julfa) were one of the enduring and unique treasures and monuments of the treasury of sculpture created by mankind, which originated from the age-old art created by the Armenian people [4]. In 20th century, European scientists who passed through Jugha (Julfa) noted that "There are several thousand khachkar cross-stones here. Each khachkar can become a rare exhibit of the most famous museum. In Europe, they like to appreciate every museum exhibit. But all the millionaires of Europe can enter the khachkar forest of the old Jugha (Julfa) and come out of it bankrupt, almost without causing damage to this forest." [5]



Khachkars, in Jugha (Julfa), were usually without pedestals. All khachkars, were carved from pink and yellow volcanic stones that had an equal width and an average height of 2 meters. This design is distinct to Armenian multi-faceted monuments of pre-Christian era that dates back to Urartu period.



European explorer-archaeologist Robert Ker Fortir in the early 19th century, while in Jugha (Julfa), noted: "I will not be exaggerating if I say that thousands of tombstones were distinguished in this resort of an ancient Armenian tribe. Indeed, in this private stretch of the East, the various memories that present themselves to the mind incessantly dictate the idea that one is walking in a large-scale cemetery... ” [6]



These photographs are showing Azerbadjianis destroying the khachkars, in Jugha (Julfa)

On December 10-14, 2005, by order of the Government of Azerbaijan, units of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces completed the destruction of Armenian khachkars in Jugha (Julfa). The destruction of the centuries-old historical and cultural monument was carried out by about 200 servicemen of the Azerbaijani army, who destroyed the khachkars and tombstones of the Jugha (Julfa) cemetery, which were still left after the prior Azerbaijani destruction of 1998-2002. Azerbaijani soldiers used heavy hammers and klungs to dismantle these historic monuments and poured them into the Araks River by trucks. Later, Azerbaijani military built a shooting range in the area where the ancient khachkars once stood.



''Footage of 2005 destruction by Armenian Prelacy of Tabriz, Iran. Screenshot from “The New Tears of Araxes.” Written by Sarah Pickman. Narrated and Produced by Simon Maghakyan. © Simon Maghakyan, 2006.''


 * 1) "Information about Armenia on nationalgeographic.com". Archived from the original on 30 January 2007. Retrieved 6 February 2007.
 * 2) Idrak Abbasov; et al. (16 March 2006). "A Medieval Cemetery Vanishes Without a Trace". Moscow Times. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
 * 3) https://culturalpropertynews.org/unesco-exposed/
 * 4) A. Jacobson, About Armenian kachkarn. "Historical and Philological Journal", N 1, 1978, p. 222.
 * 5) The Voice of the homeland", September 18, N 38/60, 1966.
 * 6) H. Hakobyan, Travel packages, tome Z (1800-1820), Yerevan In 1934, p. 798.