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The Armenian Reporter | December 13, 2008 19CommentaryScream sacred stones: Remembering one ofArmenia’s largest historic sitesAnd not letting Azerbaijanget away with an act ofwillful vandalismby Simon MaghakyanThree years after the largest medieval Armeniancemetery was reduced to dust by Azerbaijan,the world has remained aloof.Official Armenia and much of the Diasporaappear incapable of imposing any costs onthe perpetrators of the destruction of sacredDjulfa.Have Armenians become a single-issuecommunity where only genocide recognitionand Turkey’s denial ring a bell for action?Have we become so concentrated on onecause that we can’t see anything else?For those who don’t know, Djulfa, or Jughain Armenian, was an ancient city in Nakhichevan,today controlled by Azerbaijan.First mentioned by the “father” of Armenianhistory, Movses Khorenatsi or Moses ofKhoren 1,500 years ago, Jugha gained prominencein the medieval period.In 1604, Persian Shah Abbas, at war withthe Ottomans and at risk of losing Nakhichevan,forced Armenians of Jugha to resettlenear Iran’s capital of Isfahan.Deserted, Jugha remained rich in the materialhistory Armenians had left behind.Churches and a cemetery with thousands ofbeautifully carved khatchkars (cross-stones)had survived.As Armenians built Nor Jugha – newJugha – now part of Isfahan, their historiccity became known as Old Jugha. The Armenianname was transformed by its neighborsto Djulfa (or Julfa, Culfa). Together with therest of Nakhichevan, the Djulfa area was assignedto Soviet Azerbaijan by Joseph Stalinin the 1920s.Although repeatedly damaged throughoutthe 20th cemetery, Old Jugha was still largelyintact by the 21st. But in recent years, theAzerbaijani government undertook severaldeliberate efforts to destroy the cemetery. Asrecently as in the summer of 2005 StevenSim observed a few thousand khatchkars– some broken, others intact.Finally in December 2005, a group of uniformedmen in Azerbaijani territory werevideotaped destroying the remaining stonesusing sledgehammers, cranes, and trucks. Thevideo was recorded from the opposite side ofthe border, just across the Araks River.As a result, about 2,000 intricately carvedcenturies-old khatchkars were reduced to dust.A few survive in Holy Etchmiadzin, wherethey were brought from Djulfa decades ago;images of others survive in photographs.Simon Maghakyan is a graduate student in politicalscience at University of Colorado Denver. He regularlywrites at www.blogian.netBehold one of Djulfa’s khatchkars in thegarden of the Etchmiadzin Cathedral, andyou will realize what treasure has been lost.Each khatchkar is a beautiful pink sandstoneslab with its entire surface intricately carved.Each khatchkar is unique, but Djulfa’s wereoutstanding.A European traveler to the Djulfa cemeterybefore its destruction observed, “Thereare thousands of khatchkars here. Eachkhatchkar could very easily become a rareexhibit in any of the most famous Europeanmuseums.”Instead, the hateful Azerbaijani governmentdecided to wipe out any sign of Armenianpresence and converted the site to amilitary shooting range. Azerbaijani officialsthen promptly denied the crime was committedand now claim Old Jugha never existed.But even in Azerbaijan, dissident voicesemerged. Writing for the London-based Institutefor War and Peace Reporting and (thenow banned) Real’ny Azerbaijan in April 2006,journalists Idrak Abbasov, Jasur Mamedov,and Shahin Rzayev confirmed that thehistoric Armenian site had been wiped out.Another journalist, Alekper Aliyev, calledthe destruction of Djulfa, along with earlierA doctor’s journey into devastationLeft:Khachkarsfrom OldJughaexhibited atEtchmiadzin.Wikimedia.Above: AzerisoldiersdesrtroyingOld Jugharemains,December2005. Photo:still fromArmenianMFA video.anti-Armenian pogroms in Sumgait and Baku,“our shame.”Although the European Parliament condemnedthe destruction in a February 2006resolution, Azerbaijan successfully blockedseveral attempts by European observers tovisit the site.With no real consequences for itself, Azerbaijanis continuing to wipe out remainingsigns of Armenian culture while seeking toturn the reality upside down.Earlier this month, Azerbaijan hosted ameeting of culture ministers of Council ofEurope states. At the meeting, President IlhamAliyev said his country was “preservinghistorical monuments” and accused Armeniaof destruction.While Azerbaijan’s shameless tactics arenot surprising, the unfortunate conclusionis that Armenia and the rest of the worldare letting Azerbaijan get away with itscrime.Armenia’s culture minister did not travelto Baku for this month’s conference – missingan opportunity to raise the issue.Outside of immediate outrage in December2005, Armenian diaspora communitieshave paid little attention to the issue.I remember the American-American uproara few years ago when PBS decided to aira panel, after an Armenian Genocide documentary,that included genocide deniers.Armenians in the United States protestedin thousands, wrote letters, called PBS, andwrote to Congress.Why does Djulfa’s story, which is about whatis happening to the Armenian heritage today,seem so unimportant to our community?Why has the issue not become part of ourcongressional agenda? Armenians couldhave lobbied Congress for a resolution condemningthe destruction and condition U.S.engagement with Azerbaijan to its policy onArmenian cultural heritage.Similar legislation exists vis-à-vis Europeancountries and their endangered Jewishheritage sites.In an October 2006 memorandum toUNESCO, a group of parliamentarians fromEurope and Canada suggested erecting “areligious memorial building to honour thememory of those generations, who rest interredat this place.”But otherwise there has been very littleattention paid.International officials involved in the Nagorno-Karabakhpeace process between Armeniaand Azerbaijan justify their inactionby desire to keep the “peace process” going.But if Azerbaijani government is destroyingdefenseless monuments in a remote region,what kind of a peaceful coexistence canit envision with Armenians?Can the world afford to forget the lessonsof Djulfa? Can Armenians afford silence?Some Armenians are not idle. Accordingto press reports, an Armenian organizationin France has filed a case against Azerbaijanwith the European Court for Human Rights.What about the rest of us? What are wedoing?Those who don’t want to waste timemourning can learn more about the destructionat www.djulfa.com and act to give voiceto Djulfa’s silenced sacred stones. fn See page 18 for story. “Reporting to my colleagues with humility, the privilege of sharing pain; countering it withhope when all else would fail.”The first USAID team back in the United States reports to the media and public. Drs.Garo Tertzakian and Vartkes Najarian with Prof. Richard Hovannisian.