To The President and CEO of Metropolitan Museum of Art
Daniel H. Weiss, President and CEO
Gentlemen:
All over the world, there are repositories of history and ancient art, artifacts and constructions. Also all over the world are conflicts between rival groups which threaten these great and important legacies that belong to all of humanity. Who can forget the intense grief when we learned the Taliban destroyed the Bamian Buddha statues; we are all in agreement with preventing any further losses of our common heritage everywhere in the world.
Recently you published a statement which appears at first reading to be perfectly in line with the above sentiments, until you learn about the facts; then it reads like propaganda serving Armenian nationalist interests.
When the record is examined impartially and without prejudice, it becomes evident that Azerbaijanis are interested in preserving all ancient artifacts and constructions regardless of provenance; Armenians are only interested in preserving what they regard as or claim to be artifacts and constructions of Armenian origins.
There is often talk about Armenian presence in the Caucasus that goes back many centuries when the reality is they were invited to live in these regions relatively recently by the Russian Imperial court after the Treaty of Turkmenchai was signed in 1828 formally acknowledging that the Russian Empire won the territories in the Caucasus region from the Persian Empire (Safavid Dynasty ruled by Azerbaijanis). The Russian strategy was to shift the demographics of what had been almost exclusively Muslim and Zoroastrian populations to become more Christian. As the ancient Christian Caucasian Albanians had built many churches, the resettled Armenians, many from Persia, claimed them to be of Armenian origin. This is a fabrication of course, but nevertheless it changes nothing when it comes to the commitment to preserve ancient heritage that belongs to everyone, not just a local group that makes daily use of those constructions.
The Azerbaijanis have an ancient culture, originally Zoroastrian (fire worshippers) that is traditionally very inclusive of other peoples; the first Diaspora from the ancient lands of Israel who migrated to Babylon, then part of the Persian Empire, made their way north to the Caucasus where they were welcomed by the local indigenous peoples. Thus the Jewish / Hebrew presence in the Caucasus has deep roots and found better lives for themselves and their families in the welcoming cultures of the Caucasus which they still enjoy today in Azerbaijan and neighboring Georgia. Then came waves of Christianity and Islam but the tradition of welcoming others never changed to this day. Today there are (estimated) 10,000 Jews in Azerbaijan, both indigenous as well as the European Jew known as Ashkenazi living and prospering in the only Muslim majority country in the world (out of 53) without fear of being molested or harassed in any way; on the contrary, in Azerbaijan - which has antagonized the rest of the Muslim world by hosting an Israeli embassy in their capital Baku - Jews are not only welcome but celebrated as good neighbors and loyal Azerbaijani citizens. The same cannot be said of Armenia, one of the most mono-ethnic countries on Earth. There are 150 Jews in Armenia and you can ask them yourselves how comfortable they are living in such conditions intolerant of other religions.
Last year, as Azerbaijan was excavating for yet another fossil fuel pipeline, their main source of income, archeologists advised and the Ministry of Culture ordered a halt to excavation because of a find of ancient artifact / construction. It was estimated that this halt to the project cost Azerbaijan about $50M USD. The Azerbaijanis respect ancient heritage regardless of provenance, and takes great care to preserve the past, as MMA has demanded. You should know that an ancient Temple in Baku, originally a Jewish synagogue decorated with the symbol of the Tabernacle of Moses and many Stars of David, the well known six pointed star associated with the Hebrew tradition, was taken over by the Armenian Christian community of Baku over a century ago and was recently restored by the Azerbaijani government as an Armenian church. Your statement should be addressed to the Armenians who typically vandalize anything that they can’t claim provenance over.
Sincerely,
Azerbaijan Society of America
