Why does heritage of Caucasian Albania bother Armenia?
The recent visit of diplomats to Karabakh and their visit to places related to the Christian heritage of Caucasian Albania as part of the visit have caused some concern in Armenia. The statements made by the Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, Ruben Rubinyan, on this subject also show that the issue has reached a political level. He said that such steps do not serve peace between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
It would not be wrong to say that the statements of the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament regarding Caucasian Albania call into question the peace process on the horizon between the two countries. Because, unfortunately, denying Caucasian Albania and its cultural heritage forms the basis of the irredentist policy pursued by the Armenian state against Azerbaijan.
The fact that a state that existed centuries ago and has long disappeared from the historical stage is still a subject of controversy in the 21st century may seem strange to many people. But what can one say? This lies at the heart of some of Armenia’s peculiar ideas. I was also surprised by this when I first encountered it.
Let me put it this way: when I had just graduated from university, I regularly followed the Armenian media. Azerbaijan’s economy was developing rapidly, and naturally, this was also contributing to the strengthening of the Azerbaijani military. Contrary to what one might have expected, however, what seemed to concern Armenian media and intellectuals more was Azerbaijani national identity and Azerbaijan’s efforts to embrace its Caucasian Albanian heritage, rather than the rapid growth of the Azerbaijani economy.
I only understood the reason for this much later. For years, Armenian media and intellectuals have been trying to argue that Azerbaijanis are not indigenous to this region and that they arrived here much later as a nomadic people. In their own view, they seem to believe that if they can convince the world that Azerbaijanis are a nomadic people who only........
