Zatulin: Baku distorts history with trial of Artsakh leaders, says

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian State Duma member Konstantin Zatulin stated during a roundtable discussion organized in Moscow by the CIS Institute and the international Lazarev Club that Azerbaijan is attempting to retrospectively rewrite the history of Nagorno-Karabakh and its Armenian cultural heritage.

He emphasized that the trial of Artsakh's leaders in Baku is part of a broader process of historical falsification, Sputnik Armenia reports.

According to Zatulin, Baku seeks to appropriate historically significant Armenian monuments, including the medieval Amaras and Gandzasar monasteries. He highlighted that these historical and cultural sites of Nagorno-Karabakh date back to a period when Azerbaijanis did not exist in the region and had yet to form as a nation.

Zatulin argued that the trial in Baku against former leaders of Nagorno-Karabakh aligns with the same logic of falsifying history and appropriating Armenian heritage.

In his view, this judicial process reflects Azerbaijan’s broader strategy to continuously celebrate its victory over Armenians, particularly the people of Artsakh.

“All of this aims to make Nagorno-Karabakh appear as if it has always been a cultural, ethnic, national, and state territory of Azerbaijan,” Zatulin stated.

Since January 17, Azerbaijan has been conducting a trial against former military and political leaders of Artsakh. The accused include former Nagorno-Karabakh presidents Arkadi Ghukasyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arayik Harutyunyan; former Defense Army commander Levon Mnatsakanyan; former deputy commander Davit Manukyan; former Foreign Minister Davit Babayan; and National Assembly Speaker Davit Ishkhanyan.

Former State Minister and philanthropist Ruben Vardanyan is being tried separately despite his request to merge his case with the main trial. He has been on a hunger strike for a week.