Azerbaijan misappropriates Armenian heritage

PanARMENIAN.Net - Alinja Tower, situated not far from Old Jugha in Nakhijevan Autonomous Republic is currently under repair, Azerbaijani media reports suggest.

According to some publications, a large-scale reconstruction that started in 2014 is in the final stage, with the opening of the renovated fortress and the adjacent museum reportedly scheduled for this spring.

Azerbajani media outlets, however, say nothing of the founders and original owners of the castle, only mentioning Seljuk Turks and Tamerlane among its possessors.

In fact, Alinja Tower was known as the Armenian fortress Yernjak, built on Yernjak River, a left tributary of Araks River. According to historic evidence, a fortress was built here back in 8-7 centuries BC, which was further reconstructed by Princes of Syunik in 5-8 centuries AD. According to the legend, the tower was named after Lady Yernjik, a member of the royal family of the Syunik Princes.

In 689, Arabs took the fortress and the province of the same name, but Armenian King Smbat Bagratuni (895-914) recaptured the tower only to lose it a year later in 913.

Following Seljuk Turks’ rule, the fortress has been a part of Zakarid Armenia, afterwards serving as the hereditary estate for the Orbelian Dynasty.

In later centuries, Tamerlane, Turkmen tribes and Safavid Persia came to control the fortress.