Vestnik Kavkaza – Lachin region should be returned to Azerbaijan by December 1. The 28-year occupation has come to an end and a lot of work is to be done to restore the settlements in the region. In recent days, photographic evidence of Armenian citizens burning houses and removing electric wires from poles, destroying houses, taking away everything they could, when leaving the liberated Azerbaijani territories.
Moreover, the supporters of the occupation vandalize even neighboring houses of ethnic Armenians. In this video, the woman says that while she was away, vandals destroyed the floor and the ceiling, removed the doors. Now she no longer trusts people. She’s going to visit her parents’ grave and go away.
Lachin region has been under the Armenian occupation since May 18, 1992. Before the occupation, more than a hundred schools, kindergartens, a vocational school, a children’s activity center, clubs, libraries, music schools and medical institutions operated in the region. Historical and architectural monuments were located on the region’s territory: the Albanian temple (V century), the mausoleums (XIV, XIX centuries), the fortress (XVII century), the mosque (1718), the palace (1716), the bridge (XVIII century), etc.
The invaders changed the architecture and interior of the Albanian Agoglan Monastery, spoiled its wall inscriptions, erased several inscriptions carved on its walls, as well as many ornaments and symbols of the Albanian period, changed many of them beyond recognition. In 1999, they named Agoglan monastery “Tsitsernavank” and presented it as an Armenian church. Several two-meter crosses, specially made and delivered from Yerevan, were installed at the entrance door of the complex in 2009.
There are two tombs on the territory of the cemetery near the village of Jijimli, Lachin region. Most likely, one of them was built at the end of the 13th century in the Ilkhanid period. The influence of Albania’s Christian architecture is evident in the case of the second tomb, built in the 17th century.
The “Hamza Soltan” palace in the village of Husulu was built around 1761. Some scholars suggest that there was a sultanate here in 1700, which ruled over a large part of the Zangezur wilayat. In 2007,the village was renamed Melikatun by the Armenian government, and the palace was used as a hotel.
The building of the Lachin region’s local history museum, rich in historical and cultural monuments, was designed in the Azerbaijani architecture style. The museum fund had about 10 thousand exhibits. After the occupation, part of the museum’s exhibits was destroyed, the other part was looted. Museum exhibits were displayed under the guise of Armenian artefacts.
In 1989, the memorial museum of master Sari Ashiq, who lived in the 17th century, was opened in the village of Gulabird. During the occupation, the museum building and about two hundred of its exhibits were destroyed and looted.
Now the task of Azerbaijani specialists will be to revive the lost material heritage, as well as to restore destroyed houses and infrastructure.
On November 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan signed a joint statement on the complete cessation of hostilities in Karabakh. According to the document, the Azerbaijani and Armenian sides keep control of their currently held areas, and Russian peacekeepers were stationed in the region. Aghdam (November 20), Kelbajar (November 25) and Lachin (December 1) regions were returned under the control of Azerbaijan.
