On October 18, an event dedicated to the Independence Restoration Day was held on the "Zoom" platform in Guba, with the joint organization of the "Genocide Memorial Complex" and the "Chiraggala-Shabran" State Historical-Cultural Reserve.
Today Azerbaijan celebrates Day of Restoration of Independence.
On May 28, 1918, Azerbaijan declared its independence to the world by signing the Declaration of Independence. The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, which has only been in operation for 23 months, has taken significant steps toward state building. Unfortunately, our first Republic was destroyed as a result of social and political events, military aggression, and targeted killings.
The restoration of Azerbaijan’s state independence was made possible by the people’s desire for independence, as well as historical circumstances. As a result, the Constitutional Act “On the State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan” was adopted on October 18, 1991.
Khodaafarin Bridge
The Khodaafarin Bridge, located near the village of Gumlaq in Jabrayil district, was built in 1027 by the ruler of Shaddadi, Fazl ibn Muhammad, to fight the Rawwadis. It is the only ancient bridge that remains intact over the Araz river. This bridge is located in the Khodaafarin gorge, which is one of the most convenient river bed crossings. The bridge has 15 spans and was built in the 12th century, according to its architectural style.
Because the bridge arches’ supports are raised on natural foundations—rocks that emerge from the water—its spans are of varying sizes and freely arranged. The bridge’s total length is approximately 200 meters, its width is 4.5 meters, its greatest height above the river level is 12 meters, and its largest arch span is 5.8 meters. While the bridge’s arches are all made of brick, the main structure is made of river stone.
The Khodaafarin bridge, built on the caravan route connecting the medieval cities of South and North Azerbaijan, has played an important role in both domestic and international relations for hundreds of years. It was also significant from a military and strategic standpoint. This silent stone bridge has witnessed a number of great historical events, has carried the heavy burden of countless centuries, and was severely damaged in 1993 as a result of the invasion of our territory by the despised Armenians.
The year 2020 marked a watershed moment in Azerbaijan’s sociopolitical and cultural lives. Karabakh was liberated after 30 years of enemy slavery. The Khodaafarin bridge was liberated from the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan on October 18, 2020.
Despite their best efforts, the enemy was unable to erase our ancestors’ traces from this ancient, eternal, and eternal land of Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani state is currently carrying out new work to restore the destroyed infrastructure in the Karabakh region, and projects for the revival of economic, cultural, and social life in our liberated territories are being implemented.
According to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev dated January 5, 2022, 2022 was declared the "Year of Shusha".
A corresponding event plan was prepared in the Complex for the Shusha year, and on October 12, an event called “Genocide occurred in Karabakh in the 20th century” was held at Baku secondary school No. 320. Employees of the complex, Dr. Subhan Talibli and Abutalib Turabov, the school’s director Sevinj Niftiyeva, as well as staff and students from the educational institution, took part in the event.
Sevinj Niftiyeva, the school’s director, spoke about the significance of this event and emphasized the importance of education for students. The employees of the complex made a report, and then talked about the activities of the “Genocide Memorial Complex” in Guba, showing archival documents that thousands of residential areas were razed to the ground and tens of thousands of Azerbaijanis were brutally murdered as a result of the two-century-long genocide against Azerbaijanis.
On 14.10.2022, the Chairman of the State Urban Planning and Architecture Committee of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Anar Guliyev, the Deputy Heads of the District Executive Power and a group of the Committee's employees visited the "Genocide Memorial Complex" in the city of Guba.
The next book presentation was held at the "Genocide Memorial Complex" in Guba.
According to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s Decree of January 5, 2022 on “Declaring 2022 as the Year of Shusha,” an event plan has been prepared for the “Genocide Memorial Complex” in Guba. As part of this plan, the Complex is hosting a series of events related to the topics such as ancient Azerbaijani lands, Karabakh, historical monuments, our material and cultural heritage, and so on.
Afgan Valiyev, chief adviser of the Social Research Center, presented the new book “Our material and cultural heritage in the historical lands of Azerbaijan” on October 13, 2022, at the “Genocide Memorial Complex” in Guba. The Complex’s director began the event with an introduction. Rakhshanda Bayramova (professor) informed the participants about Afgan Valiyev’s activities and congratulated the author on the publication of his book “Our material and cultural heritage in Azerbaijan’s historical lands.” Later, the author delivered a speech in which he discussed the importance of cultural heritage examples in conveying historical truths about each nation to future generations.
This book, the result of a significant historical, national, and spiritual research, provides an opportunity to develop an understanding of the current state of the process of destruction and erasure of Azerbaijani material and cultural heritage on Armenian territory.
Currently, 133 of Afgan Valiyev’s 244 monuments have been completely destroyed, 51 have been turned into ruins and Armenianized, and 58 usable monuments have been appropriated by Armenians. In addition, one good-condition Albanian church is presented as an Armenian church, and one good-condition mosque is presented as a Persian mosque. The book contains 49 pirs, fireplaces, sanctuaries, 40 mosques, 38 grave monuments, 15 temples, 13 fortresses, 19 Albanian churches, 13 caravansaries, 8 tombs, 6 ethnographic-archaeological monuments, 6 domes, 5 grave statues, 5 bridges, 3 mausoleums, 3 vaults, 3 archaeological monuments, 3 stone inscriptions, 2 madrasahs, 2 neighborhoods, 2 mansions,
The event was attended by approximately 30 Complex employees. Finally, the author donated some of his books to the complex’s rare fund library.
From historians’ opinions: Austrian historian Erich Feigl writes in his book "The Land of Fire on the Silk Road"...
Pro-Armenian sources openly and shamelessly admit the massacres committed by Armenians against the local Azerbaijani population. How many people were victims of these massacres? “Armenians are unparalleled in their cruelty” – this sentence is the product of the pen of a pro-Armenian author like K. Walker. Because they are well aware of the crimes they committed, the meaning of this sentence is very clear. It is unknown how many people died as a result of the combined Armenian and Bolshevik forces’ cruelty. Although exact numbers are impossible to determine, it is known that tens of thousands of people were killed. Armenian Dashnaks massacred people in Guba, Shamakhi, Lankaran, and other places, as well as in Baku. What did the Armenian Dashnaks do in Baku, and what were their goals, is a legitimate question. Of course, their goal was to seize power in Nakhchivan, Zangezur, and Karabakh as well.
INFORMATION
The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the State Service for the Protection, Development and Restoration of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture, the Executive Power of the Guba region, the police department of the Guba region and other relevant bodies promptly responded to the issue of illegal construction and earthworks carried out by private individuals in the territory adjacent to to the complex, illegal construction work was prevented.
Relevant documents on this issue were collected and submitted to the court by the Executive Power of the Guba region.
It should be noted that in order to bring to the attention of the world community the criminal acts committed by Armenian nationalists in 1918, preserve the national memory of future generations of the Azerbaijani people and perpetuate the memory of the victims of the genocide, the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, signed Decree No. 673 on December 30, 2009. In accordance with the order, in 2012-2013, with the support of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the “Genocide Memorial Complex” was built in the city of Guba, and on September 18, 2013, the opening took place with the participation of the President of the country, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, and the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Mrs. Mehriban Aliyeva.
“Genocide Memorial Complex” in the city of Guba is a state-protected historical and architectural reserve of international importance. This is the only ideological center that reflects the history of the 1918 Azerbaijanis genocide and Armenian vandalism.
Director of the “Genocide Memorial Complex” in the city of Guba
Dr. Rakhshanda Nigar Bayramova
Isa spring is one of the most popular recreation places in Karabakh.
Isa spring is one of the most popular recreation places in Karabakh. The place where the spring is located is not far from the city of Shusha, in the Karabakh , at an altitude of 1600 meters above sea level, in the midst of thick forests with a beautiful view. The water of the Isa spring is both cold and pure like tears.
According to legend, the spring was first found in the 18th century in the thick forest of the area by a peasant named Isa, and it was named after him.
Isa spring has witnessed many historical events and people who came here for rest. Hundreds of thousands of people used to come to drink water from this spring and enjoy the beauty of these places. The spring was so liked by those who visited here that at one time such a saying became popular among the people: “You was not in Shusha if you don’t visit this spring.” There are many works dedicated to the inimitable beauty of the nature of Karabakh, its wonderful springs, which are rare pearls. One of such works is the song “Isa Bulaghi” with lyrics by Mammad Rahim and music by Bahadur Huseynov.
Unfortunately, on May 8, 1992, the city of Shusha was occupied by the Armenian army, so our people did not have the chance to drink the healing water of this legendary spring for a long time. However, after the glorious victory of the Azerbaijani Army in the Second Karabakh War, the pearl of Shusha, one of its symbols, the Isa Spring, was completely restored by the Shusha City State Reserve Department. The top of the spring is made of marble, the name is written with national ornament and it is fully equipped with water supply.
Since the late 80s of the 20th century, Armenia has brought forward territorial claims to the historical lands of Azerbaijan and started military aggression against our country.
The nearly 30-year-long negotiation process on the elimination of the consequences of military aggression against Azerbaijan and the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions 822, 853, 874 and 884 has not been successful. Armenia’s expansion of the policy of illegal settlement in the occupied territories, the call for a “new war for new territories”, the sabotage of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border in the direction of Tovuz on July 12, 2020, and at the same time, increasing the tension on the contact line of the troops as a whole, to the front line concentration of troops in nearby areas indicated that Armenia was preparing for a large-scale attack.
On September 27, 2020, the armed forces of the Republic of Armenia again grossly violated the norms of international law and fired at the residential areas and military positions of the Republic of Azerbaijan from several directions using various types of weapons, including heavy artillery. In this regard, counter-offensive operations have been launched by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan to prevent and neutralize potential military threats. On the morning of the 27th, operations began around the village of Gulustan in Goranboy and around Balığgaya. The “attack battalion” of the 1st corps along with the 3rd corps participated in the operation for the Murovdag peak. The group led by Colonel Nasimi Shikhaliyev successfully carried out this operation and reported the capture of the peak, and the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan gave official information about the capture of Murovdag in the evening of the same day. Although the Armenian side denied this news, the capture of the Murovdag peak was confirmed in the footage captured by the “Caliber” portal on October 4. In this video frame, it is possible to see the Azerbaijani flag flying on the 3315-meter peak of Murovdag.
Weekly sharing about visitors to the complex.
Jacob Kamaras, the founder of Stellar Jay Communications, visited the Genocide Memorial Complex in Guba during his visit to Guba. The guest was given detailed information about the genocide committed by Armenians in 1918.
