100th Anniversary of the Agulis Pogroms Commemorated

YEREVAN — “Today, Armenia is more than determined to defend and ensure the right of the Armenian people to exist and peaceful development in their historical homeland, including in Artsakh,” Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Anna Naghdalyan said in a statement on the 100th anniversary of the Agulis pogroms targeting the Armenian inhabitants of the village.

“Today is the 100th anniversary of the massacre of Armenians in Agulis. A century ago, on December 24-25, 1919, the peaceful Armenian population was massacred, and this ancient Armenian settlement of Nakhichevan was turned into ruins,” Naghdalyan noted.

The government of the first Armenian republic in response to these pogroms appealed to the international community and, in particular, to the countries of the Entente with a call to prevent violence on its territory and ensure the security of the Armenians of the region.

“Unfortunately, crimes against the Armenians of Nakhichevan were not limited to the history of the 20th century only, but they also received a new manifestation in our days, when the Azerbaijani authorities, having finally evicted the Armenians from Nakhichevan, also carried out a systematic and massive destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage.

As a result, thousands of Christian monuments were completely destroyed, including churches, monasteries and khachkars (cross stones – ed.) In Dzhug, Agulis and other places. The destruction by the Azerbaijani army of thousands of khachkars of Dzhugi, considered to be masterpieces of medieval Christian art, which is documented in video recordings, will remain in world history as an unsurpassed manifestation of cultural barbarism,” the spokeswoman emphasized.