Presentation of the social film “Shoot of gravestones”, produced by the International Eurasian Press Fund (IEPF), with the support of the Council on State Support to NGOs under the Auspices of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was held today.
Eurasia Diary reports that in a ten-minute film, the tragic story of the destruction of the Azerbaijani village of Ashagi Abdulrahmanly of the Fuzuli district, which was under Armenian occupation for 6 months in 1993, is thoroughly narrated. During these six months, absolutely all the houses in the village were destroyed to the ground, vandals shot and destroyed all the graves, including the graves of relatives of the author of the film, a native of Ashagi Abdulrahmanly, Umud Mirzayev.
Opening the event, IEPF President informed the audience about the project. He spoke about the importance of talking about the situation in the occupied territories to the world. He stressed the importance of films made for this purpose. Umud Mirzayev said that every citizen should be educated about the facts of invasion.
“Over the past 10 years, over 100 media and civil society representatives representing America and Europe, especially France, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Uzbekistan, Russia, Qatar, Pakistan, Vietnam, etc. visited the areas bordered with the occupied territories, and the village, part of which was liberated from occupation. The atrocities committed in our occupied village for a short period, the burial site, the ruined ancient spring, and other acts of vandalism left a deep impression in their memory. Today, more than 900 residential areas of Karabakh are in the same situation as you see in Ashagi Abdurrahmanly. Only traces of houses in these villages and areas remain.”
Umud Mirzayev said that the IEPF’s statement on the situation in the occupied territories has been published by the UN Human Rights Council in five languages in recent months. He pointed out that the social movie "Shoot of gravestones" has been featured at various sessions of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and in separate discussions. In September, representative of the IEPF Anastasia Lavrina presented the movie in the International Peace Bureau on the workshop on challenges of a common security policy in Eurasia. She also spoke about the IEPF president as about the person, one of the IDPs. She stressed the need to inform the international community about the situation.
Umud Mirzayev emphasized the importance of the Council on State Support to NGOs under the Auspices of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s support to civil society organizations. The event continued with discussions by lawmakers and civil society representatives.
The event was attended by MP Ganira Pashayeva, Secretary of the Writers' Union of Azerbaijan, Rashad Majid, writer Yunus Oguz, representative of Presidential Administration Vugar Salimov, Deputy Chairman of NGO Public Council, Farasat Gurbanov, Associate Professor of Journalism and Journalism at Baku State University.
Vugar Salimov, a senior official of the Department of Public and Political Affairs of the Presidential Administration, said that while occupying the territories of Azerbaijan, the Armenians vandalized the material and cultural monuments there and were trying to create an international opinion on how many of these monuments belong to them. “They are carrying out excavations involving international experts in the occupied territories; often publish it in their press. When they find any historical artefacts, they declare it to be theirs. During the conflict, they opened fire on our historical monuments in the occupied territories. Our lands are under temporary occupation and we translate these atrocities into foreign languages during our activities and send them to international libraries. We can prevent it, not allow to falsify history by the Armenians."
Speaking at the event, Farasat Gurbanov, Executive Director of the Council on State Support to NGOs under the Auspices of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan’ Secretariat, said that this film once again proves that our struggle is continuing. “There are many houses, graves, and historical places in Karabakh. It expresses the essence of the Armenian people. Their culture is obviously clear. They represent terror, murder of people, destruction of historical monuments. Unfortunately, we have such a neighbor. Azerbaijan will respond to this nation as soon as possible. Today, NGOs operating in the country present projects on the Karabakh problem. The film perfectly illustrates the situation in the whole village around Karabakh.”
MP Ganira Pashayeva said that we can see the suffering of over a million people in this movie. “We share this bitterness. The houses that were destroyed there were our homes, the burial places were our graves, and the historical monuments are our history. No matter where they were born or occupied, their territories are home to us all. Umud bey regularly takes journalists and guests from abroad and introduces them to this scene. This is a very important issue. Hearing and seeing are different. Seeing is a clear demonstration of Armenian criminality. The cemeteries and graves are the place our loved ones rest. Armenians plan to destroy it. It is our historical memory. It has a history of many centuries. We must work hard to liberate our lands under the leadership of our Supreme Commander. Everything that anyone can do and do in their place is our victory. Everyone here knows this. But translating the film into English, showing it in international organizations and audiences means that we have the right to vote.”
Speaking at the event, Jahangir Mammadli said that in the 10-minute film, we see the wild attitude of Armenians against Azerbaijani culture for many years. It is not far off the day when we will be able to conquer our native lands under the leadership of our Supreme Commander. "
Writer Yunus Oguz noted in his speech that the biggest things start with the smallest things: "If we pay attention to the smallest work, we will have great success. This film is not a small thing."
Yunus Oguz noted that the cemetery is one of the oldest historical cultures in the world. The international community also accepts this and does not consider it desirable to destroy the graves. It is possible to write the history of a whole nation with an ancient tomb. Of course, Armenians do not do this without purpose. They want to destroy Azerbaijan's history and culture by destroying graves in the occupied territories. Unfortunately, Albanian churches and monuments are being destroyed and demolished today in Karabakh. We need to focus the international community on these issues.”
Speaking at the event, Israeli political scientist Arye Gut said that making such films is of great importance in conveying the truth of Azerbaijan to the world. “It is of particular importance to showcase the vandalism to the world.”