Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian History from BC 2247 to the year of Christ

http://armeniabookreviews.co.cc/history-of-armenia-from-b-c-2247-to-the-year-of-christ-1780-or-1229-of-the-armenian-era/

History of Armenia; From B.c. 2247 to the Year of Christ 1780, or 1229 of the Armenian Era
Jun 18, 2011

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General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1827 Original Publisher: H. Townsend Subjects: Armenia History / Asia / General History / Europe / Former Soviet Republics History / Middle East / General History / Europe / Russia… Best Offer Today! >>
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Vanessa Kachadurian, Armenian Khachkars and UNESCO

http://armenianow.com/arts_and_culture/30579/armenian_khachkars_unesco



Armenian khachkars (cross-stones) seem to be turning into a unique test on adherence to principles, maturity and consistency of such an authoritative organization as UNESCO.

A scandal broke out at the opening of the exhibition devoted to the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence held on June 15 in Paris at the UNESCO office there. Guests gathered for the opening ceremony of the photo-exhibition titled “The Art of Khachkars: Armenian Cross-Stone” were shocked to discovered that the captions to each picture of “cross-stones” citing their sources had been removed without a prior notice.

As it became known later, UNESCO administration had made a decision a few hours before the opening to remove the captions grounding their decision by the fact that some of the stones are not in Armenia, but on the territories of Turkey and Azerbaijan, “consequently, keeping the captions would be a diplomatic mistake”. Moreover, the same administration had given instructions to also take away the big map of historic Armenia with marked areas of installment of Armenian tomb-stones on it.

As a result, visitors were looking at the displays without any idea where and how the monuments were erected. The UNESCO leadership refused to come out and give any explanation to their decision. Armenian Ambassador to France expressed his discontent with the incident and a prominent expert of medieval Armenian culture Patrik Tonapetyan criticized sharply UNESCO's move and was outraged with that kind of censure of the Armenian culture.

Khachkars are remarkable examples of medieval Armenian architecture. Carved on rocks or separate monoliths for centuries they were called “holy symbols”.

It is noteworthy that initially and for a long time these symbols were just fragments of other memorial structures, however, later they turned into an ideologically complete composition the axes of which is the canonized symbol of the “Tree of Life”. The stone cross in Garni carved in 879 in memory of Queen Katranideh (at her shrine) is the oldest surviving example. In the 19th century foreign scientists named monuments of this unique group “khachkars” – the Armenian word for cross-stones.

Researchers always refer to khachkars as “the architectural endemic of Armenia” with unmistakable ethnic properties. Hundreds of thousands of such monuments define regions of formerly Armenian settlements and draw the borders of its historic motherland.

That is exactly what defines the political “markedness” of khachkars that “predetermined” the inevitable systematic liquidation of the “Armenian trace” by Turks and Azeris on the territories of historic Armenia under their control.

It is noteworthy that between 2001 and 2006 thousands of Armenian tomb stones were destroyed in the historic cemetery of Jugha – a medieval city of merchants and craftsmen. These were remarkable monuments of Christian memorial art dating to 13th-18th centuries. The mission aimed at complete annihilation of the Armenian stratum in Nakhijevan was not prevented by UNESCO despite the protraction of the process that took several years.

This organization's standpoint has never boasted persistency. Yet in 2003 the then Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian said during his speech at the 32nd Assembly of UNESCO: “Azeri authorities are wiping Armenian tombstones off the face of the earth to be able to deny the Armenian presence in Nakhijevan. With complete confidence and a strong conscience let me once more appeal to UNESCO to send observers to the region in order to record where and how the destructions have been implemented. The obliteration of such historical and cultural values in defiance of the tenacious efforts of the world to preserve universal values, demonstrates a short-sighted isolationist mentality. Azerbaijan is a country living with fear for its past.”

However, Yerevan's appeal to delegate a mission to the region of destruction was rejected. Moreover, the Azeri foreign ministry called all the accusations against them a “shameless lie”: “The claim that the architectural monuments in question are of Armenian origin is ridiculous. As for the khachars in Jugha, they are of Albanian origin.”

In any event UNESCO did not delegate its representatives to the zone of destruction even then.

German human rights advocate Tessa Hoffman used a term “ethnocide” to describe the character of liquidation of the Armenian khachkars. (Various writers use that concept differently; some even say it's an equivalent of “genocide”.) And nonetheless, there is a difference between the two terms: if the crime of genocide is in depriving this or that nation of its national, racial or religious commonality of development perspectives, ethnocide is deprivation of the same national, racial and religious commonality of its retrospection, its past, and its history.

Unfortunately, an organization like UNESCO – a major advocate of preservation of world heritage – is also involved in that process.

Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian History translated from Classical Armenian

Aristakes Lastivertc'i's
History
Translated from Classical Armenian
by Robert Bedrosian
To the memory of my aunt Sahakanush (Mary) Der Bedrosian

http://rbedrosian.com/altoc.html

Vanessa Kachadurian Armenian History -Khachkars under constraint of Azerbaijan and Turkey

http://www.panorama.am/en/culture/2011/06/17/ministry-of-culture/
Ministry of Culture: UNESCO censured Armenian khachkars under constraint of Azerbaijan and Turkey
Armenian Minister of Culture released a statement to make remarks on UNESCO censoring the origin of Armenian Khachkars.
UNESCO Paris headquarters hosted on June 15 the official opening ceremony of “Art of Khachkars” photo exhibition. The initiative group is Armenian permanent representation office in UNESCO and Armenian Ministry of Culture in cooperation with UNESCO.
Culture Ministry press service informs UNESCO also hosts committee sessions on different Conventions, which serves as a chance to perform the masterpieces of Armenian culture – khachkars to the representatives of more than 100 countries.
Special booklets, recordings have been made beforehand and sent to Paris to share among the visitors. Artist-sculptor Robert Minasyan departed for Paris to represent the history of khachkars.
Though UNESCO has been beforehand introduced to the materials of the exhibition, Azerbaijan and Turkey used all the available means to convince UNESCO to remove from the exhibition those displays which are located out of Armenia.
READ MORE ON THE DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN CEMETERIES AND KHACHKARS
http://www.novascotiascott.com/2008/12/16/destruction-of-armenian-cemetery-commemorated/
http://www.khachkar.am/en/typology/Jugha.php