“GEGHARD”
SCIENTIFIC ANALYTICAL
FOUNDATION
2024
2024
Recently, the terms "Western Azerbaijan" and "Western Azerbaijan Community" actively circulated by Azerbaijan have been complemented by another one, "Virtual Western Azerbaijan".
This state-sponsored website, along with the aforementioned organizations and others, is inundated with historiographical falsifications. Azerbaijan presents itself to the global scientific community through publications filled with anti-scientific and anti-Armenian concepts. It is not only the Aliyev regime that spreads these falsifications, but also the entire "scientific" community supported by that regime.
This newly created website, whose logo features a map of the Republic of Armenia, presents materials in four languages: Azerbaijani, English, Russian, and Spanish.
The main page features a map of the Republic of Armenia, divided by them into thirty-five administrative regions (Yerevan, Talin, Aparan, Ararat, Artik, Goris, Kapan, Meghri, etc.).
Each region is presented with so-called “its history of creation”, the etymology of its place name, and is summarized with the same content: "Since 1987, native Azerbaijani residents of the region have been forced to leave their place of residence."
Each region is represented by its residential areas (referring to Armenian communities), the "history" of each community, the "etymology" of the place name, the population of the communities starting from 1831 are given.
The place names of the settlements and the related data are taken from the "Dictionary of the Settlements of the Republic of Armenia." The primary source for the settlement data and population numbers (1831-1931) was Z. Korkotyan's book "Population of Soviet Armenia," published in 1932. For subsequent years, the data from the All-Union Census of 1939, 1959, 1970, and 1989, as well as the data from the RA Census of 2001, the "Road Map of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh," and other materials from official bulletins, were used as the main sources.
When comparing the materials on this site with those in the aforementioned dictionary, we notice that lines generated by anti-Armenian concepts have been added to the main material. For example: “In 1918, the village was attacked by Armenians, and the population of the village, Azerbaijanis, were deported from their historical and ethnic lands” or “In 1922, 22 Azerbaijanis lived in the village, who left the village in 1924-1925.”
There is no mention on the site of Armenian churches in Armenian settlements that are listed in the dictionary. Additionally, the toponyms are explained as follows: “…originated from the Turkish word meaning…”.
Ilham Aliyev’s appeal is displayed on the main page: “I am sure that this day will come, and our compatriots of Western Azerbaijan, their relatives, children and grandchildren will return to our historical land, to Western Azerbaijan.”
Structurally, the website consists of five main sections: "History," "Science and Culture," "Armenian Vandalism," "Resources," and "Eyewitness Testimonies." Each section is composed of subsections.
In the “History” section there are 11 extensive materials (at the moment): “Western Azerbaijan in ancient times”, “Western Azerbaijan in the Middle Ages”, “Community of Western Azerbaijan”, “Meeting of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev with the intelligentsia of Western Azerbaijan”, etc.
The “Science and Culture” section contains subsections “Press in Western Azerbaijan”, “Fine arts in Western Azerbaijan”, “Historical figures”, etc.
The "Historical figures" subsection presents Azerbaijani figures who were allegedly born (some also died and are buried in the "birthplace") in Yerevan. For example, Akbar Yunis oglu Suleimanov (Akbar from Yerevan), Ahmed Rajabli, Afshan Gadimbeyova, Teymur khan Makinsky, Habib bey Salimov and others.
Among the subsections of the "Armenian Vandalism" section, there is a subsection titled "Falsified Toponyms of Western Azerbaijan," which is further divided into subsections such as "Settlements," "Meadows," etc. Additionally, under the paragraph "Destroyed Azerbaijani Monuments of Western Azerbaijan," monuments such as the "Yerevan Fortress," "Zal Khan’s Mosque," "Sardar’s Palace," and others are presented as if destroyed by the Armenians.
The "Resources" section consists of five subctions: "Photos", "Maps", "Documents", "Books" and "Videos". It should be noted that the works presented in the “Books” section were published in 1992-2023, and in the books published after the war of 2020, fragments from the speeches of the leader of Azerbaijan were used as an introduction.
The "Testimonies of Eyewitnesses" section presents 20 materials, allegedly recounting the "stories" of Azerbaijanis who were "rescued" from the pogroms and subjected to violence by Armenians.
Here is an excerpt from the materials:
" Western Azerbaijan is one of the oldest and most geographically diverse areas of Azerbaijan. In the past, it was located along important caravan routes that connected the northern and southern parts of Azerbaijan, as well as the entire Caucasus and the Near East. Currently, it is bordered by Georgia to the north, Azerbaijan Republic to the east and southeast, Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south and southeast".
It should be noted that the abovementioned section actually refers to the Republic of Armenia with bordering countries.
Thus, this website, "inspired" by Ilham Aliyev's "Return to Western Azerbaijan" concept, is a source of spreading historiographical and anti-Armenian lies.