Page 13 - Azərbaycan xalçaları

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December 10, 1945 proved undeniably that “the Nagorno
Karabakh Autonomous District had never been terrestrially
linked to Armenian SSR, and it is not as such now.” The
claims of Armenian SSR failed again.
Taking advantage of the situation at the end of the 1980s
and not giving up its territorial claims against Azerbaijan,
Armenia in fact staged a war. Armenians committed
genocide against Azerbaijanis in Khojaly in February 1992
with the help of Russian military forces. Afterwards, 7
regions around Nagorno Karabakh (20% of the national
territory) fell under Armenian occupation and almost 1
million Azerbaijanis were expelled from the lands of their
forefathers.
Though the United Nations Security Council adopted
4 resolutions (#822, 853, 874, and 884) demanding the
withdrawal of Armenian armed forces, Armenia failed to
fulfill these resolutions.
The Republic of Azerbaijan pursues an active policy for
peaceful and fair resolution of the Armenia-Azerbaijan,
Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the liberation of the occupied
lands and the restoration of its territorial integrity.
Since ancient times, Karabakh has been one of the main
economic and cultural centers of Azerbaijan. In ancient
and medieval times, Barda, Beylegan and other cities of
Azerbaijan emerged and developed in this region. As the
capital of Caucasian Albania, the city of Barda played an
important economic role. In later centuries, Shusha reached
a highly developed level. Karabakh had contacts with main
trading centers of the world and handicraft products made
in this region were exported to those centers. Karabakh
and not only Azerbaijan contributed strongly to world
civilization and gave momentum to the development of
mugham, considered one of the masterpieces of world
music heritage.
One of the specific important features of Karabakh,
which is an integral part of Azerbaijan, is the formation of
its own carpet-weaving school.
Karim SHUKUROV,
PhD in History.
Azerbaijani carpets / KARABAKH GROUP