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Re: Destruction of the Armenian Cemetery at Djulfa
Analysis of parts of that article:
He was obviously nowhere near the actual site of the cemetery. You cannot see the site of the cemetery from anywhere except inside the Arax gorge. The fact that he did not see the fake "military training ground" is proof of that.
Gulistan village does not lie near to the cemetery site. it is the first stop on the railway as it emerges from the gorge. The village is named after a medieval turbe tomb that is located close by, near the river Arax.
This is completely wrong. In 1993 (and probably until 1998) the cemetery was in the same condition that it was in during the 1970s. But we should all be aware of where they are going with this - the excuse will be that the cemetery was destroyed "in the heat of war" in the early 1990s and it will dismissed as regratable but excusable behaviour by the Azeris.
Again wrong. 80% of the khatchkars were still there until the end of 2005.
Analysis of parts of that article:
The IWPR contributor was accompanied by two Azerbaijani security service officers and was restricted in his movements. He was unable to go right down to the River Araxes, the site of the former cemetery, as it lies in a protected border zone. However, he was able to see clearly that there was no cemetery there, merely bare ground. Nor was there, as some Armenians have claimed, a military training ground.
Nowadays, there is a village of some 500 inhabitants known as Gulistan near where the cemetery used to lie. The climate is harsh and dry and the houses are mostly built of wattle and daub and stones from the river.
However, two other witnesses told IWPR that there has been more recent destruction of the cemetery – though it may have started much further back than Armenians allege.
A man named Intigam who works repairing tin cans in Baku said he was posted in Julfa with the Soviet army in 1988-89. At the end of 1989, the radical Azerbaijani nationalist politician Nemat Panahov dismantled the border-posts on Nakhichevan’s border with Iran. Intigam said that part of the Julfa cemetery was destroyed at that time.
A man named Intigam who works repairing tin cans in Baku said he was posted in Julfa with the Soviet army in 1988-89. At the end of 1989, the radical Azerbaijani nationalist politician Nemat Panahov dismantled the border-posts on Nakhichevan’s border with Iran. Intigam said that part of the Julfa cemetery was destroyed at that time.
A second witness, who asked for his name not to be given, said that there were khachkar stones on the site up until 2002, but they were then removed on the orders of the Nakhichevan military command.
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