Azeri government bans Bryza from visiting destructed Armenian cemetery in Djulfa

PanARMENIAN.Net - The U.S. embassy in Baku has reported that a recent attempt by U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan Matt Bryza to visit the ruins of the 1,300 year old Armenian Cemetery in Djulfa, Nakhichevan was blocked by the same Azerbaijani government which orchestrated its desecration some five years ago of this Armenian cultural and religious site.

"Ambassador Bryza's done far too little, five years too late," said Aram Hamparian, Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA), in response to the U.S. embassy's report on his failed bid to honor his commitment to the U.S. Senate that he would visit the remains of the 7th century Armenian religious cemetery, which included thousands of intricate stone-cross gravestones, known as khachkars.

"As a nominee for the post of ambassador to Azerbaijan, he chose not to raise this hateful act of intolerance in his prepared testimony to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and only after repeated questioning by Senators, pledged to visit this sacred site. As ambassador, he waited another three months to attempt to keep this commitment, only to allow himself to be turned away by the very perpetrators who so brazenly demolished these historic stone-cross gravestones."

News of the Azerbaijani government's refusal to allow Bryza access to the historic Armenian cemetery in Djulfa was revealed in a press release by the U.S. embassy in Azerbaijan, which neither explained why the American Ambassador was denied entry, nor, what the U.S. response will be to this most recent example of the Azerbaijani government's stonewalling.

In the release, amb. Bryza is quoted as stating, in generic terms, that "the desecration of cultural sites - especially a cemetery - is a tragedy, which we deplore, regardless of where it happens." He added that: "The United States continues to call on all parties to respect such sites and collaborate on their preservation," but fell short of specifically condemning the Azerbaijani authorities for either their systematic desecration or their refusal of access to this cultural site.