Geghard Foundation urges Azerbaijan to refrain from falsifying  history of Armenia and neighboring nations

ArmInfo.  The Geghard Scientific and Analytical Foundation has responded to the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani "scientists" were  protesting against the activities of the Foundation exposing  Azerbaijani falsifications related to the history of Armenia and the  region as a whole.  According to the Geghard Foundation's press  service,  recently, the Geghard Foundation received a letter of  complaint from the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, signed  by about two dozen researchers from the A. A. Bakikhanov Institute of  History and Ethnology. The Azerbaijani "scientists" were protesting  against the activities of the Geghard Foundation and, in particular,  against the materials presented in the "Azerfake" and "Azervandalism"  sections of the foundation's website. A special topic of the protest  was the letters of complaint sent by the Geghard Foundation to  international scientific information databases and periodicals, which  are aimed at stopping the dissemination of anti-scientific and  anti-Armenian publications by Azerbaijani authors.

In this regard, the foundation sent a response letter to the  Azerbaijani side, condemning the distortions of Armenian history and  claims that the current Republic allegedly arose on the territories  of "Azerbaijani khanates." The Geghard Foundation recalled the famous  League of Nations decision, according to which "before 1918, there  was no state called 'Azerbaijan,'" and noted that the territories  currently claimed by the Azerbaijani side were never a single state  entity. "They were part of larger empires: the Mongol, later the  Persian, and, since 1813, the Russian Empire." Moreover, the same  decision explicitly states that the name "Azerbaijan" is borrowed,"  the letter notes.

The foundation pointed out that the status of a scholar implies not  only the formal possession of publications and titles, but also  unconditional adherence to academic ethics. "Scholars do not distort  history, do not deny well-known facts, and do not manipulate  historical facts. A scholar cannot allow himself to deliberately  ignore historical reality by denying Armenia's millennia-old heritage  or appropriating Armenian, Albanian, Georgian, and Iranian historical  and cultural heritage, declaring it "Azerbaijani,"" the letter  states.

Geghard then addressed the Azerbaijani side's dissatisfaction with  their foundation's efforts to expose Azerbaijani falsifications in  international scientific databases and journals. Geghard expressed  its belief that the Azerbaijanis are dissatisfied with the fact that  foreign academic circles have become more cautious about their  so-called scientific publications containing anti-Armenian theses.

"This position is a natural and predictable reaction from the  scientific community, reflecting an attempt to protect science and  knowledge from devaluation, and impartial historical research from  attempts to replace it with politicized propaganda. If our actions  have in any way limited the further dissemination of your  pseudo-historical, propagandistic, and methodologically unsound  materials, we sincerely regret this. We regret that we came forward  with this initiative too late," the letter emphasizes.

The scientific and analytical foundation then sarcastically offered  to assist the Azerbaijani side in editing preliminary versions and  drafts of their research. "Our impartial specialists will subject  your materials to scientific review and editing, point out  methodological inaccuracies, correct factual errors, and make  suggestions that will help ensure your future publications comply  with academic standards. Thanks to this approach, your works will  begin to meet international academic standards and will be cleared of  anti- scientific and anti-Armenian propaganda, after which you will  be able to publish them with greater success in most scientific  journals," Geghard noted.

In conclusion, the foundation called on the Azerbaijani side to  strictly adhere to the norms of scientific ethics, refrain from  distorting historical facts, and falsifying the historical and  cultural heritage of Armenians and other neighboring peoples.