Armenians, staying true to their “traditions”, “seized the opportunity” which was the opening of the exhibition entitled “Azerbaijani Heritage in Louvre Museum”, organized during the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in Baku, and remembered "ancient Armenian carpets”, writes Trend.

The Armenian press is trying to “Armenify” three of the carpets displayed at the exhibition, grounding their claims on the cross-shaped patterns found on the said carpets. Such assertions by the Armenian side, who claim that these carpets “were woven before the II century AD" and that "the international word for 'carpet' is in fact of Armenian origin", should come as no surprise, according to the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Azerbaijan National Academy Sciences (ANAS).

Azerbaijani carpets are an integral part of Azerbaijani history, said Doctor of History Sciences, Head of the Carpetology Sector of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of ANAS, Professor Vidadi Muradov.

"Azerbaijani carpets are as old as our history, ethnography and culture, and it is an undeniable fact that carpet weaving in the Caucasus is associated with the Azerbaijani people," Muradov stressed.

According to him, Azerbaijani carpet weavers wove carpets according to patterns and ornaments related to their worldview, thinking and mythology.

"Therefore, Armenians' claims regarding Azerbaijani carpets, major and minor elements of which are of Turkic origin and are associated with symbols and signs used by the Turkic peoples, are simply absurd. I think that if there exists a tendency for mutual scientific, cultural, political, economic exchange in the world, then the Armenians should agree that they have made 'sufficient' use of this exchange throughout history and learned to weave carpets (and just to weave!) from Azerbaijani Turks, and should put an end to the search of such unreasonable Armenian symbols as the 'Armenian cross' or the like on Azerbaijani carpets,” he stated.

Muradov stressed that Azerbaijani carpets and rugs are shown and stored in some of the world’s most famous museums and collections.

"Three carpets brought to Azerbaijan from the Louvre Museum as part of the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee belong to the Karabakh carpet school of the late 18th – early 20th century. One of them was woven in the village of Shahbazli (Aghdam district), two others were woven on the basis of the 'Ajdahali' carpet. Numerous carpets were woven with great skill in Azerbaijan from the end of the 18th century, and this tradition continues successfully today," Muradov concluded.

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• Azerbaijan
• Armenia
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