On 27 March Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism hosted the International Conference on “Armenian Terrorism Against Azerbaijani Multiculturalism: 1918-2018”.

The event was realized in the frames of the project “Terrorism Against Multiculturalism” by Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism jointly with Azerbaijan University of Languages.

Opening the conference, the Acting Executive Director of Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism Ravan Hasanov spoke of Armenian terrorism and its grave consequences. He stated that in the period from 30 March 1918 to 3 April 1918 the Baku Soviet and Armenian-Dashnak groups committed massacres against the Azerbaijanis in the city of Baku and in different parts of Baku governorate as well as Shamakhi, Guba, Khachmaz, Lankaran, Hajigabul, Salyan, Zangazur, Garabagh, Nakhchivan and other areas. According to the official sources, as a result of the genocide about 12 thousand Azerbaijanis were murdered, ten thousands of people went missing. By the 26 March 1998 Instruction of the National leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev the 31 of March was marked as the Day of Genocide Against Azerbaijanis. President Ilham Aliyev’s Instruction on the 100^th Anniversary of the Genocide Against Azerbaijanis is an adequate appraisal of the tragedy.

The Head of the Department of Interethnic Relations, Multiculturalism and Religious Issues of the Presidential Administration Etibar Najafov said that Armenian terrorism has caused serious problems not only for the Azerbaijanis but also for the neighbouring nations. He stated that the Armenians are among the nations making most use of terrorism. Hence, the expression “Armenian terrorism” has entered the vocabulary. Many Armenian political parties have adopted terrorism as the basic method of their activities. At present this tradition still survives in Armenia. Those who are in political power in Armenia today have directly been involved in the terroristic acts committed during the Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorni Garabagh conflict and other crimes. Monuments are erected to the Armenians known as terrorists in the entire world, streets are named after them. Armenian terrorism has been a great threat to peace and security both in the past and modern period.

The Director of the Institute of Caucasian Studies of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, member of the Milli Majlis Musa Gasimli focused the attention to the historical facts about Armenian brutalities. He said that the March genocide was committed not only against the Azerbaijanis but also other nations. The geography of this genocide covers Eastern Anatolia, the governorate of Iravan, the present Azerbaijani territory and other areas. The aim of the Armenian organizations was to create “Great Armenia”. To do that, they have resorted to all kinds of terrorism, brutalities. This process is continuing today as well. The Secretary of the State Commission on Prisoners of War, Hostages and Missing Persons, Head of the Task Force Ismayil Akhundov spoke of the work the organization represented by him has done in connection with the investigation of Armenian terrorism. He   stated that the Armenians who made use of the then tense political situation got organized and committed genocide against the Turkic-Muslim population of the region. Since 1988 the Armenians has resumed their territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Following this policy of Armenia, twenty percent of the Azerbaijani territories was invaded, over one million of our compatriots were ousted from their native land, 20 thousand people were murdered, 50 thousand people became invalid, 3875 people went missing.

The conference continued in panel discussions.

In the first panel session “The Genocide Committed by the Armenians Against the Azerbaijanis in 1918-1920” moderated by the Senior research fellow of the Institute of Eastern Studies after Ziya Bunyadov of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Solmaz Rustamova-Tohidi, the representative of the Centre for Social History Studies of France Georgi Mamulia, the Doctor of Political Sciences of Mazandaran University Ahmad Rashidi, the representative of the Archives of Political Documents of the Records Management Office of the President Hajar Verdiyeva, the Russian historian, prominent scholar in Caucasian Studies Oleg Kuznetsov, the Head of the Department at Presidential Library Nazim Mustafa, the Head of the Department at the Scientific Research Institute of Ingushetia Boris Kharsiyev and the Counselor of Baku International Centre of Multiculturalism Aytan Gahraman gave speeches.

In the second panel session “Armenian Terrorism Against the Ethnic Groups Living in Azerbaijan” moderated by the representative of the Archives of Political Documents of the Records Management Office of the President Hajar Verdiyeva, the Deputy Director of the Effective Policy Institute of Moldova Ruslan Shevchenko, the Head of the Department at the State Management Academy under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Firdovsiyya Ahmadova, the representative of the Centre for Strategic Studies under the President Araz Gurbanov, the Head of the Department at the Institute of Literature after Nizami Ganjavi of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Imamverdi Hamidov, Deputy Editor of the newspaper “Samur” Muzaffar Malikmammadov, the teacher of Ataturk University Yavuz Aslan and the Head of Section at the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan Tavakkul Aliyev made presentations.

It was pointed out that 31 March – the Day of Genocide Against Azerbaijanis has gone down in history as the bloody event of the XX century. During this genocide ten thousands of innocent, peaceful people were relentlessly murdered by the Armenian armed units. In connection with the tragedy every year different memorial ceremonies dedicated to the genocide are held in Azerbaijan and many states of the world, and all the bloody acts of Armenian chauvinism and brutality are condemned.

Запись The International Conference on “Armenian Terrorism Against Azerbaijani Multiculturalism: 1918-2018” at the Centre of Multiculturalism впервые появилась Baku International Multiculturalism Centre.