RA MFA: desecration of Baku cemetery is continuation of Armenian Khachkars destruction policy

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian Foreign Ministry condemns the destruction of a Christian (Narimanov) cemetery in Baku, said RA MFA Spokesman Vladimir Karapetian.



"This decision fits entirely into the rationale of the policy of official Baku designed to completely eradicate Armenian cultural monuments in the territory of the Azerbaijani republic, to eliminate any trace of the rich Armenian legacy in Azerbaijan. Baku is encroaching on the rights of other national minorities, residing in Baku. Representatives of the communities and NGOs sent letters to President Ilham Aliyev demanding that he orders an immediate end to this barbarism," he said.



"We regard the destruction of the Narimanov cemetery in Baku as continuation of the policy for destruction of the old Armenian cemetery in Julfa in the autonomous Nakhichevan, which is to be blamed also on international organizations, which have given in to Azerbaijani pressure and failed to display resolution and send a monitoring mission to Nakhichevan to assess the scale of destruction of Armenian monuments there," Mr Karapetian said.



As reported earlier, under the pretext of building a highway Baku demolishes a Christian cemetery (the Narimanov cemetery), where Armenians, Jews and Russians were buried.



Although local authorities assure of reinterment, photos in Internet show a complete dump. The photographers say the bulldozers just razed the graves to the ground depriving the relatives of the possibility to rebury the remains. Moreover, the cemetery managers demand $300 for reburial.



The city administration says exhumation and reinterment is performed in accord with ethnic and religious traditions in the presence of relatives of the deceased. Meanwhile, the Jewish News Agency reported that "observance of Jewish traditions is restricted to the fact that grave-diggers throw the ashes into mat-bags and then give them to the relatives."