According to Azerbaijan, several churches and monasteries belong to 'ancient Azerbaijan': Tatoyan

According to an Azerbaijani fabricated scheme, several churches and monasteries are claimed to belong to 'ancient Azerbaijan.' This was stated by Arman Tatoyan, the former Human Rights Defender of Armenia and director of the Tatoyan Foundation, on his Facebook page.

“Under the Azerbaijani authorities' program for the occupation of Armenia, Goshavank, the Basilica of St. Paul and St. Peter in Aparan, and the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Akhtala are said to belong to 'ancient Azerbaijan.' According to the fabricated data of this program, the Armenian Goshavank is labeled as an Albanian (Turkish) temple located in the territory of the Turkish sultanate, and Armenians are accused of allegedly changing its 'real' Turkish name.

According to the Azerbaijani program, the area's roots belong to the Turk-Oghuz tribes, and the first Armenians were 'brought' from Iran and Turkey in the early 19th century, after which they supposedly appropriated the temple. According to the fabrications of the program for the occupation of Armenia, the Armenian Basilica of St. Paul and St. Peter in Aparan belongs to Azerbaijan. It is claimed to be an 'ancient Turkish' temple constructed by Turkish tribes in the 5th century, and the Armenians were allegedly brought to Aparan from Turkey between 1829 and 1830.

According to the Azerbaijani fabricated program, the so-called 'Western Azerbaijan' includes the Armenian Church of the Holy Mother of God in Akhtala, which they claim is the homeland of Turkish tribes, where supposedly no Armenians lived until the mid-20th century,” wrote Tatoyan.