WikiLeaks-Armenia No 43
2006-04-06 12:37
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000501
SUBJECT: ABANDONED AZERI GRAVEYARD SUFFERS NEGLECT, VANDALISM
Classified By: DCM A.F. Godfrey for reasons 1.4 (b, d).
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SUMMARY
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¶1. (SBU) Beyond common neglect, which, for the most part has led to the deterioration of an abandoned Azeri cemetery in Armenia’s northern Lori province, we noted during a March 26 visit that vandals had intentionally damaged several of the cemetery’s Muslim grave markers. The destruction did not, however, appear to be organized (brilliantly colored, unmolested headstones stood straight next to faded pieces of other headstones vandals had obviously broken or toppled). In contrast, a small Christian Armenian cemetery adjoining the Muslim plot was manicured and well-maintained. The mayor of the nearby village who claims he is responsible for safeguarding both graveyards told us “some people” had recently looted iron fencing and reusable items, but that he had put a stop to it. End Summary.
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AZERI CEMETERY: NEGLECT AND SOME INTENTIONAL VANDALISM
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¶2. (SBU) During a March 26 trip to Lori Province we noted that vandals had intentionally damaged several grave markers in a Muslim Azeri graveyard near Mikayelovka. In general, common neglect has led to the deterioration of public cemeteries across Armenia. Near Mikayelovka, however, some headstones lay broken in half or in pieces, with porcelain etched images of the Azeris they memorialized shattered and removed. Other headstones were soiled with fresh manure from grazing livestock or trash (beyond the normal collection of vodka bottles traditionally left at the sites of Christian graves) dumped from the nearby village. Other burial plots and fallen headstones were charred from fresh fires, which were likely lit to clean away brush and dead grass for the new livestock grazing season.
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NO EVIDENCE OF THE PERPETRATORS
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¶3. (C) Located approximately 1 kilometer from Mikayelovka, whose Christian inhabitants use an adjoining plot for Christian burials, and approximately five kilometers from the small Gogavan border crossing, the cemetery stands alone in the middle of a field. There were no nearby dwellings. According to an Armenian border guard at the Gogavan border crossing (between Georgia and Armenia) the area had been inhabited around the time “we went to war with the Turks (sic) over Nagorno-Karabagh.” (Note: The latest date of burial inscribed on the headstones was 1994, though other dates ranged from the 1950s to the 1990s. End Note.) In response to our inquiries about the condition of the graveyard and the obvious vandalism, the border guard rhetorically asked us, “What responsibility do we have? They are Turks. There is no one left here to take care of it.”
(Note: “Turk” is a general term the border guard used as a derogatory descriptor for any Muslim/Turkic people, in this case Azeris. End Note.)
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VILLAGE MAYOR ISSUES ORDERS TO EXERCISE “PROPER RESPECT”
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¶4. (SBU) Mikayelovka Mayor Lyova Dilbaryan told us he had responsibility for caring for both the Christian and Muslim portions of the graveyard, though the graveyard’s distance from the town made it difficult to monitor. The Muslim portion he said, had suffered some recent vandalism, mainly the thievery of iron grave partitions, as “unknown people” had looted the Muslim site for useful and/or valuable items, including copper wire and aluminum gates. Dilbaryan told us had instructed local residents to exercise the proper respect for the Azeri graves.
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COMMENT: DESTRUCTION OF AZERI GRAVEYARD
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¶5. (C) In general, cemeteries in Armenia, like much of the country’s public property, are in various stages of decay. While many of our interlocutors continue to assert that Azeri soldiers have methodically destroyed cultural monuments of Armenian origin in the Nakhichevan region (reftels), we note that some vandalism of Muslim headstones has occurred in Armenia as well.
EVANS
Image – Azerbaijani (former Karapapakh) grave in Aghvorik (former Yeni Yol) village in Amasya region of Shirak marz
Photo – Tatul Hakobyan, July, 2017
