HOW HE SEES IT Cemetery's destruction an outrage

By IDRAK ABBASOV
INSTITUTE FOR WAR & amp; PEACE REPORTING
NAKHICHEVAN, Azerbaijan -- It has been one of the most divisive issues in the Caucasus: the fate of the famous medieval Christian cemetery of Jugha in a remote region of Azerbaijan.
Armenians regard the graveyard as a historic treasure. It is thought to be the largest and most important repository of elaborately carved medieval headstones -- Armenians call them hachkars -- in the world.
Its destruction by a Muslim nation, they argue, would be the equivalent of the Taliban's destruction of the two giant Buddhas in Bamiyan, Afghanistan, in early 2001.
For its part, the Azeri government has been mum about the fate of the cemetery, accusing Armenia of attempting to incite discord between the two countries and accusing its longtime foe of destroying Azerbaijani monuments on its own territory.
But a visit to the site of the cemetery, located on Azerbaijan's border with Iran, confirms that the historic monuments have vanished.
The fate of the Jugha cemetery has attracted international attention, with the European Parliament, UNESCO and even Britain's House of Lords all expressing concern about the issue. The European Parliament has even dispatched a special delegation to inspect the site.
Tensions
Confirmation of the cemetery's destruction is sure to heighten tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan, which have been engaged in a bitter war of words ever since the fighting ended over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh in 1994.
The historic cemetery is located in one the most inaccessible parts of Europe, in the Azerbaijani enclave of Nakhichevan, an area surrounded by Armenia and Iran.
The cemetery sits on the northern bank of the Araxes River, which divides Nakhichevan from Iran. For centuries, Julfa was a flourishing Armenian town. But in 1604, Shah Abbas of Persia forcibly drove most of its inhabitants out of the area.
The ruined town and cemetery they left behind, however, has long been considered an important archeological treasure. As long ago as 1812, British Orientalist Sir William Ouseley toured the area, finding it "a city now in perfect decay."
Argam Aivazian, a historian and expert on the Armenian monuments of Nakhichevan, said that Jugha was a unique example of medieval art and the largest Armenian cemetery in existence. The tombstones, which he last saw in 1987, were considered priceless.
Armenian officials are calling the destruction of the site a deliberate act of cultural vandalism by Azberijan.
"The destruction of the hachkars of Old Jugha means the destruction of an entire phenomenon in the history of humanity, because they are not only proof of the culture of the people who created them, they are also symbols that tell us about a particular cultural epoch," said Hranush Kharatian, head of the Armenian government's department for national and religious minorities.
Historic importance
Azeri scholars in the past have acknowledged the historic importance of the site, although they have disputed its origins.
According to a book published in 1986 titled "The Architecture of Ancient and Early Medieval Azerbaijan," by Davud Akhundov, the gravestones were actually the work of Caucasian Albanians rather than Armenians. The Caucasian Albanians -- a people not connected to modern-day Albania -- lived in the southeastern Caucasus, although they had largely vanished by the end of the Middle Ages.
Whatever the origins of the gravestones, this isn't the first time that Armenian officials have expressed outrage over the destruction of what they see as a vital part of their cultural heritage.
Deputy culture minister Gagik Gyurdjian said his government first publicly expressed concern about the fate of the cemetery in 1998. "Then we got the entire international community up in arms and stopped the destruction," he said. "But in 2003 the destruction started again. Many khachkars were buried under the earth, and the rest were destroyed and thrown into the Araxes."
Now, several Western organizations want to see for themselves what has happened in the area. However, Azerbaijan says it will bar the European delegation from visiting the site unless they inspect historic sites in disputed areas controlled by Armenia as well.
Meanwhile, many Armenians wonder why the international community waited so long to express concern over the destruction of their heritage. Avetik Ishkhanian, president of Armenia's Helsinki Committee, noted that the world quickly expressed its collective anger when the Taliban demolished the Buddhas of Bamian in 2001. "Why has there not been the same reaction in this case?" he asked.
X Idrak Abbasov is a journalist in Azerbijan who writes for The Institute for War & amp; Peace Reporting in London. Also contributing to this report were IWPR staff members Shahin Rzayev, Jasur Mamedov, Seda Muradian, Narine Avetian and Karine Ter-Sahakian. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information.