Wars of memories: Destruction of Avarian monuments in Azerbaijan

The Azerbaijano-Avarian and Azerbaijano-Lezghin oppositions have a long history, however, the invisible conflict of the national self-consciousness has begun quite recently, when Azerbaijan’s leadership started a well-planned project about Azerbaijanization of AR’s indigenous nations’ thought, psychology and values.

During the first years of AR existence despite the national discontent the Avarians and Lezghin speaking nations more or less lived in their national microclimates where it was possible to recognize the national belonging of cities and villages in Daghestanian nations’ place of residence…

From the beginning of the Alievs’ clan’s government in the country, the situation with not Turkic nations became heavily worse. The Azerbaijanian side not only made conditions for migration and Turkization of indigenous nations, but also systematically did away with potential leaders, religious persons and simple patriots who unlike some people did not want to leave their native lands and opposed to the forced Turkization. Now, besides physical liquidation of native nations Avarians’ and Lezghins’ representatives, Azerbaijan’s leadership tries to wipe their national heroes off the face of the earth and memory destroying their monuments and ancient graves, and on their place or not far raising monuments and busts to Daghestanian nations’ butcher, the father of today’s president, Heidar Aliev.

Everything began with the explosion of the monument to national hero Imam Shamil, the leader of Caucasian nations during the period of Caucasian Wars. The operation of destroying memorials of the Avarian nation’s pride and honor had far-reaching ends. After all, the destruction of this or that nation’s national monuments brings to the nation’s hurting and weakening especially since against this background Azerbaijan erects monuments to those people who restrained Avarians’ rights in every way by their activity. Besides, Heidar Aliev is actively idolized by the present Azerbaijanian society, not to say the more. In Azeri “historians’” many publications Heidar Aliev is represented as a mission, demigod, who “saved the poor Azeri-Turkic nation”.

Practically, along with the destruction of the traces of Avarians’ existence in Azerbaijan, medieval buildings and mosques constructed by Avarians were Azerbaijanized as well. In 1996, Azeri activists in Belokan laid a base for a monument to Umakhan Avarian and not far from it with the help of the local leadership they raised a monument to Nariman Narimanov, the chief secretary of Azerbaijanian SSR, Lenin’s intimate.

Knowing that Nariman Narimanov is an extremely negative persona in ethnic memory, the Azeris actively carried on propaganda that the Azerbaijanian state has homogeneous national face due to Narimanov. In fact it will not be a secret for anyone if we say that Comrade Narimanov, essentially, realized terror not only against Talishes, Armenians and Kurds but also against Daghestanians in 1920-30s.

In 1924 the well-planned action of Azerbaijanian Bolshevik leadership to resettle and annihilate about 7000 Avarians by force was carried out. We’ll add as well, that according to some data about 80% of the thousand Avarians sent to Siberia died during 20s. Whole villages in Kakh and Zakatala districts were destroyed as a result of the policy of “annihilation” and were populated by representatives of Azeri-Turkic tribes.

Today in Belokan, Zakatala and Kakh districts it is possible to calculate about 10 monuments dedicated to Narimanov, the first butcher of Daghestanian nations.

The local Azerbaijanian authorities started systematic destruction of ancient Avarian graveyards and monuments as well. At the same time for instance in Kusary district which is populated by Lezghins, Turkic endings before the deceaseds’ surnames started to appear on many headstones of Lezghins. All this became known at the beginning of 2005, when a group of Lezghin patriots took photographs of Azeris’ ferocity towards the deceaseds and spread the photos and materials through RF.

The policy to destroy the nation’s monuments became more intense after the explosion of the monument to Imam Shamil, whereupon a group of Avarians, not bearing so much open suppression and humiliation, excited rebellion at the head of the Avarian nation’s great son Haji Magomedov, who was brutally killed by Azeri soldiers in August 2001. We’ll remind that on 1 December 2000 the republic’s administration of Zakatala made a decision to destroy the monument to Imam Shamil which was raised in Zakatala city in 1992. Such decisions are practically made every month, at the same time, monuments are raised to Heidar Aliev for example in Belokan , on the height where the repressed Avarians were shot and buried, today a monument is erected to Azerbaijan’s today’s president’s father. During the building works bones were repeatedly dug out which irritated the native inhabitants, however, the Turkic leadership achieved its aim. Now the character of Heidar Aliev is represented in busts and statues as “an emperor covered with the blood of rebellious nations”. Belokan’s fact is by no means the sole one.

In Belokan district’s large village Kabakhchol the district administration planned at the end of October to destroy the monument to the fallen Avarian soldiers of the Great Patriotic War, and as it is known, Azerbaijanian SSR’s Avarians participated in the Great Patriotic War the most actively which can’t be said about the Azeris themselves. After the native population had actively opposed to the administration, the monument to Avarians-Red Army men was transferred to another place, and in the centre of the village where that monument was situated before, a bust to Heidar Aliev has been raised one of these days.

At the same time, Azeri subjects in Zakatala district administration do not sit doing nothing as well: Asif Askerov, the head of Zakatala district’s Executive Power (DEP) traditionally repeatedly initiates destruction or profanation of everything which is connected with the district’s indigenous nation.

Thus, it is already the third time that Asif Askerov near Tangit village (Kakh district) cuts off the shield pointing to the place where Hajimurad Khunzakh and naib Imam Shamil were buried, and in order the native population did not reconstruct it, he ordered to asphalt the place showing his devil-may-care attitude towards the whole Moslem and first of all towards the whole Avarian.

The war of memories will continue until one of the sides is defeated and leaves the district both in political and demographic sense of this word. We need to understand clearly whether we need Tsor (AR district populated by Avarians) or not. Whether we need the land which our ancestors cared for and protected so much. What does Tsor represent itself in any Avarian’s heart? Is it a piece of land or a symbol of centuries-old struggle of the Avarian nation for freedom and reunion?

The above mentioned facts reflect Azerbaijan’s today’s policy to destroy Avarian national values and first of all to destroy their national memory connected with this ancient land Sarir.

The methods of this war are not fully clear to us , however the Azeris understand a truth well: nations perish not only in the case when they are subjected to physical annihilation. Very often a nation stops to exist when the notions “nation” and “self-identity” cease to exist in this nation’s soul.

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