Great Return

The Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha. 19th century. It was built by Azerbaijani architect Kerbalai Sefikhan of Karabakh. During the years of Armenian occupation, original Azerbaijani ornaments and elements were destroyed and attempts were made to falsify it as a “Persian” mosque


tory in the Caucasus. The Armenian Gregorian Church had always been disgruntled over this fact. Armenian clerics started making claims to Albanian churches fol- lowing the mass relocation of Armenians from Iran to the northern Azerbaijan territories, in particular, Kara- bakh, as a result of the Russo-Persian Wars in the early 19th century. The process became endemic after the Russian Orthodox Church synod (governing body) passed a decision in 1836 to transfer the Albanian Apos- tolic Church to the jurisdiction of the Armenian Grego- rian Church. Afterwards, dozens of Albanian churches were Armenianized in Karabakh. During the period of the Armenian occupation of Karabakh, the Armenians began presenting Ganjasar and Khudavang, the well- known Albanian temples dating back to the early Mid- dle Ages located in the Kalbajar district, and Aghoghlan Monastery in Lachin, as their shrines internationally, and also attempted to alter the initial architectural appear- ance of these structures and their crosses.
Pursuing a deliberate policy aimed at misappropriat- ing the national cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani peo- ple, the Armenians referred to the legacy of Caucasian Albania as “Armenian heritage” and failed to refrain from not only stealing samples of material culture but also claiming affiliation with historical personalities. Graph- ic examples of these attempts include their efforts to “Armenianize” Hasan Jalal, the founder of the Albanian Cross principality in Karabakh in the 13th century, and Arzu Khatun, his successor.
During the occupation of Azerbaijani territory the Armenians were engaged in persistently ruining an- cient samples of the Islamic civilization in Karabakh that had history spanning centuries. About 70 mosques in Shusha, Aghdam, Gubadly, Zangilan and other areas were adversely affected by the Armenian occupation and only a few of these shrines remained in these ter- ritories. The shrines are either semi-dilapidated or their historic appearance was altered under the pretext of “restoration” (such as Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha). A Russian Orthodox church in the Kuropatkino village of the Khojavand district, which dates back to the 19th century, is among the religious sites destroyed as a result of the Armenian occupation.