If you have not seen the mid-December (2005) video from Hin Jugha (now
Julfa, Nakhichevan) that shows Azerbaijani soldiers destroying the last
headstones of the ancient Armenian cemetery, visit < www.julfa.cjb.net >
and do so. Watch it closely, because this is the first documented "hot
action" of cultural genocide against the Armenian heritage. Watch it and
know that most Azerbaijanis look at these scenes and deny. They deny this
happened.
I never truly realized the deep and hateful evil of the Turkish denial of
the Armenian genocide before I faced the Azerbaijani denial Jugha's
destruction. While we can assume that Turkish deniers may sincerely
believe in their fabricated lies due to the fact that the Genocide
happened 90 years ago, the same cannot be said about Azerbaijanis who
shamelessly deny what they can clearly see in the video. This means they
know they are lying; this means denial is not as naļ„ as we think it is.
Only a week after the news about the destruction, the Azerbaijani
government simply "dismissed the Armenian claims," by stating "no such
thing happened." Then, the Azerbaijani media fabricated a story about
"the destruction of a Muslim holy site in Armenia," trying to show that
"we did it but you it too." After this fabrication was uncovered, an
Azerbaijani academician announced that there had been no Armenian cemetery
in Nakhichevan. This absurd lie did not make it to anywhere either, since
even Azerbaijani websites have information about Jugha's Armenian
khachkars.
Now, after the Euro Parliament called on Azerbaijan to stop the
destruction of the Armenian cemetery in its 19 Jan 2006 resolution,
Azerbaijan is giving up the denial. It is "simply" silent. An Azerbaijani
national from Baku, in contrast, is not silent. At < www.day.az/forum>
(the relatively tolerant Russian-language Azerbaijani forum), that person
"justifies" the vandalism in Hin Jugha's cemetery with the following
phrase: "for those resting under the cross stones, the living ones will
come with arms."
Whether the living ones will ever go to Nakhichevan one day, I do not
know. But I know for sure that Hin Jugha will always live with the living
ones, the same way Msho Surp Arakelots and Varagavank live; the same way
Ararat will always belong to the living ones.
Simon Maghakyan is a graduate of the International Institute for Genocide
and Human Rights Studies and can be reached at simon.maghakyan@ptk.org
.