Geghard Scientific and Analytical Foundation exposed Azerbaijani  propaganda about Armenian Shushi in Egypt

ArmInfo.The Azerbaijani state propaganda continues to spread false information about the  occupied territories and the Armenian cultural heritage of Artsakh in various ways, as stated by the Geghard Scientific and Analytical Foundation.

 According to the Foundation, an article was recently  published on the Internet platform of the authoritative Egyptian and  Arabic media and the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic  Studies. The article presents the original Armenian city of Shushi   as an Azerbaijani city, using names like "Little Paris", "Caucasian  Center of the Arts", etc. The Arabic article notes that currently  "residents of Shushi" are busy restoring the city to its pre-war  appearance. "At the beginning of the article, the Artsakh problem is  distortedly presented as a territorial conflict between Armenia and  Azerbaijan, but the Artsakh problem originally stemmed from the  Armenians of Artsakh fighting for self-determination.

The author of the article, talking about the presence of Muslims in  Shushi, overlooks the fact that the main population of the city was  Armenian. Shushi has historically been the center of Armenian  Christian culture, as evidenced by the Armenian churches and the  historical cemetery of Shushi. These cultural sites were specifically  targeted by the Azerbaijani military forces during the 2020 war, and  have since been subjected to vandalism and destruction following the  occupation of the city.

In addition to Armenian and foreign sources, Russian sources also  confirm the Armenian presence in Shushi. According to these sources,  in 1916, 23,916 Armenians lived in Shushi, making up half of the  city's population. In March 1920, Azerbaijani authorities  orchestrated a brutal massacre of the Armenian population in Shushi,  as a result of which the city turned into ruins, thousands of  Armenians were killed. It is worth noting that the article mentions  several Turkic-speaking Muslim figures, but there is no information  provided about  Khosrov bey Sultanov. 

It should be noted that Sultanov was the temporary governor-general  of Karabakh and Zangezur in 1920, appointed by the Azerbaijani  authorities. He organized the massacre of the Armenians in Shushi and  other regions of Artsakh. For some reason, the Aliyev regime and the  author of the article decided to ignore this "interesting" episode.  On one hand, Baku declares Shushi the Islamic cultural capital and on  the other hand they have very close, friendly and allied relations  with Israel, which conducts massacre against Muslims in the Gaza  Strip and destroys mosques.  The author of the article also mentions  Mrs. Gohar's mosque, but fails to acknowledge the initiative by  Artsakh authorities to restore the mosque in 2009. The article  overlooks the Armenian people's efforts to not only protect the  Christian heritage, but also show state care for Muslim heritage, as  seen in the restoration of Mrs. Gohar's mosque.

In fact, the author of the article intentionally present one-sided  and falsified information, depriving Shushi of its Armenian identity.  This aligns with the Azerbaijan's state target policy, which began  with the 44-day Artsakh war and the occupation of Shushi. The policy  of de-Armenization of the city of Shushi also involves organizing  international conferences, cultural events and festivals, as well as  commissioning articles like the one mentioned" the Foundation said in  a statement.  In this regard, "Geghard" is calling on journalists and  researchers to refrain from disseminating one-sided, biased and false  information presented by the Aliyev regime.