Khaleej Times Online on Artsakh (Nagorni-Karabakh)'s issue

Dear Editor of Khaleej Times Online

I regret that Khaleej Times Online gave a wide space to Azerbaijan's propaganda on Artsakh (Nagorni-Karabakh)'s issue. Azerbaijan is playing on Islamic feelings to gain the support of Arab and Islamic countries in contradiction with the nature and the reality of the conflict. Armenia and Armenians worldwide are in very good relations with Arab and Islamic countries. I would like to clarify the following points:
· Armenia is not occupying the region, as it is mentioned in the article, but the self-defense forces, consisted of the region's inhabitants, liberated the region after it was illegally annexed to Azerbaijan by Stalin's decision in 1923 and after 70 years of Azerbaijan's discrimination and ethnic cleansing policy against the Armenians and pogroms in Sumgait, Kirovabat (1988) and Baku (1990).
· The Azeri official doesn't mention that the blockade imposed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh (Nagorni-Karabagh) region and Armenia was the reason of the US Congress law to deprive Azerbaijan from US official aid which was left behind in the previous years by the pressure of Turkish and oil lobby supporting Azerbaijan in the US.
· Historically, Armenia existed in the 3rd millennium (B.C.), while Azerbaijan was created by the British intelligence in 1918 to create a barrier which prevents the Russians from reaching the Mediterranean Sea and Baku's rich oil fields.
· I wonder why some questions to the Azeri official were provoking Azerbaijan "starting a media campaign against Armenia to explain (your) case" as if Azerbaijan has not launched the campaign yet.
· The number of Azeris in Armenia before leaving it was 159 thousand, so the number of 250,000 refugees fleeing Armenia does not make any sense.
· The Azeri official exaggerates the number of Azeri refugees (sometimes this number reaches 1 million), while he doesn't mention more than 400 thousand Armenian refugees from Azerbaijan and Karabagh living in miserable conditions in Armenia.

Historical Background:

At different stages of its long history, the Gharabagh region has been called by different names. The traditional name of the region is Artsakh which is still used by Armenians.
Ancient Greek authors have called the region Orkhisdena (Strabon, "Geographica", XI, XIV, 4), which is equivalent to Artsakh in Armenian. Ancient medieval sources have recorded two names associated with the transfer of the central directorship of the region, which are Dzavdek (in association with the Principality of Dzavdek) and Khatchen (Vartan, "Geography", Paris, p. 11. This 13th century author specifically uses the name "Artsakh- at present Khatchen"), in association with the Khatchen fortress. During the 10-13 centuries, the name Khatchen (in Armenian Khatch means cross) was very popular. It has been mentioned both in lithographic inscriptions on monuments found in Gharabagh and in Byzantine and Persian lists of names (Constantine VII Porphyrogenite, "About the Byzantine Royal Ceremonies", book II, chap. 48; "Foreign Sources about Armenia and Armenians", vol. 6, Yerevan, 1970, p.151; N. D. Migloukho-Maglai, "13th Century Geographical Research in Persian"; "New Report on the Armeno-Aghvan Geographical History"; "Scientific Report of the Institute of Orientology", vol. IX, Moscow-Leningrad, 1954, p. 204 -in Russian-). It should be mentioned that the region was called Khatchen because its population were Armenians.
The name Gharabagh was first mentioned in ancient sources (14th century) in the "Chronological Records of Georgia" ("Kartlis Tskhovreba", vol. II, Tbilisi, 1959, p. 240 –in Georgian-) and by the Persian historian Hamdallah Ghazvini (Hamd-Allah Mustawfi of Qazvin, "The Geographical part of the Nuzhat-al-Qulub" translated by G. Le Strange, Leyden, 1919, pp. 173-174; "Zeili Tarihi-Kuzita", Baku, 1986, p. 91, 95, 127 –in Russian). It was based on the Persian geographical list of names.
Greko-Roman and Armenian authors clearly mention that the region and the neighboring state of Oudik to the right of the river Kura were part of Armenia, which had its borders with the neighboring Kingdom of Aghvan by the river Kura. Below are two extracts from reports by ancient authors:
· Strabon: … "Armenia consists of many mountains, planes and valleys… for example; there is the plane of the river Arax which flows through the border of the Aghvan Kingdom. Beyond that, there is Sagasena which also neighbors Aghvan and the river Kura" (Strabon, XI, XIV, 4).
· Plinius the Elder: … "That race- the Aghvans who lived in the Caucasian mountains-reached, as said before, the banks of the river Kura, which is the border between Armenia and Iveria" (Plinius, "Natural History", VI, 39).

Will these notes be published on the website so as the readers of the article can read these notes too?
With best regards,
Ara

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