Armenian Acts of Cultural Terrorism

Cultural plagiarism: promoting other peoples' monuments as if they were Armenians',

Armenianization: with some alterations confiscating the monuments of their neighbors,

Armenian style cultural terrorism: destroying the monuments not recognized by the international public…

Cultural plagiarism has manifested itself mostly in the field of musicology. A considerable number of folk songs and dancing tunes of Azerbaijan are introduced as Armenian even without bothering to change their names: Sarı Gelin, Göçeri, Uzundere…

In addition, selected yallıs, Turkish folk dancing figures -such as Anadolu and Nahçıvan, extend the repertoire of Armenian folk dancing.

Contemporary Armenian composers, especially A. Hachaturyan, often borrow pieces of Azerbaijani folk music in their operas and ballets. They have never had hesitations in adopting mugams -musical modes- of Azerbaijan, either. As strikingly evident from their names, the musical instruments known to be Turkish in origin are also claimed to be Armenian: Ney, zurna, keman, tar…

This situation resulted from the Armenian trend of plagiarism on the one hand, and the superior Turkish musical culture on the other. In the Middle Age, under the dominance of Turkish culture, Armenian music faded out through its own low standards of quality.

There has been a considerable destruction on Turkish decorative craftsmanship, especially on rug weaving. Turkish rugs were pillaged from Azerbaijani villages that were under occupation, and displayed at Erivan Rug Museum as if they had been samples of Armenian craftsmanship. One wonders if Armenians pride themselves on these.

The apparent disposition to change the Turkish names of tales, legends and bayatis -musical modes and rhythm- has been part of efforts to create an Armenian Folklore. The Armenian translation of our famous Koroğlu Legend is now introduced as if it was the original version. Worst of all, this clear case of cultural plagiarism has never been withstood by Azerbaijanis.

Architectural and archaeological monuments have always attracted more attention in the Armenian program of cultural terrorism since they are the best guarantee of the lands they were erected on. These lands of neighboring countries have always been the envy of the Armenians, who, in the name of realizing their myth of Great Armenia, habitually introduced the architectural monuments of their neighbors' as their own.

At the beginning of the 20th century, V.L. Veliçko wrote: 'Armenians ruthlessly wiped out the history of Georgia, in the archaeological sense. They scraped off the Georgian inscriptions on the monuments. They broke into the old churches of Orthodox, burgled and ransacked the Georgian churches.' ²

Armenians claim themselves to be the only inheritors of the Christian culture in the Caucasus. The Caucasus Albanian monuments symbolizing the Christian-Turkish civilization founded in Azerbaijan have been carefully researched by the Armenians as if they were their own, and the results have been published internationally. The purpose behind such propaganda is to bolster up their case and create an image of an Armenian society having a deep-rooted and enduring culture.