Albano-Udyan Christian Religious Community of Azerbaijanus extended a statement in connection with the Albanian temples located on the liberated territories of Azerbaijan.
The statement states that the Albano-Udyan Christian Religious Community of Azerbaijan as the succession of the Albanian Apostolic Church highly appreciates and supports the past year consecutive measures to protect and restore historical and religious monuments located in the liberated territories, including temples Christian-Albanian heritage, expresses confidence that this process will be completed in the shortest possible time.
At the same time, representatives of the community, despite the serious mine danger, complex off-road conditions, adopted all the necessary measures to visit the members of the Albano-Udean religious community of historical Albanian temples on liberated territories. Over the past year, they were able to visit the agposer’s liberated from the occupation several times in Lachin, Hudawaveng in Kelbajara, as well as Albanian temples in the village of Gadrut and village Tug.
The statement notes that the history of the structuring of Christianity as official religion in the Caucasus begins with the Albanian Church. Ancient sources prove that the Albanian Church, who left an indelible trace not only in the religious and cultural life of Azerbaijan, but also the entire Caucasus, is one of the oldest churches of the Christian world and has an apostolic origin.
Unfortunately, the representatives of the Christian community are noted, under various pressure and the Albanian Apostolic Church in 1836 was abolished, and the Armenian Gregorian Church tried to take possession of her material and spiritual heritage. As a result, most of the historical Albanian temples in Azerbaijan, and especially in Karabakh, were griegorized, the archival materials and documents were falsified. Grigorization of the ancient Albanian heritage, including Albanian temples, has become the state policy of Armenia over the past hundred years. Armenia subjected to the temples of the Grigorianization, destroying those of them, whose belongings could not be changed.
After restoring the independence of Azerbaijan, there was a historical opportunity to restore the status of the Albanian Apostolic Church and eliminate injustice. At the initiative of the Udine Intelligentsia in 2003, the Albano-Udynaya Christian community was established and registered. With the support of the government of Azerbaijan, the Apostolic Elysees Temple was restored in the village of Kish Shekinsky district, which is considered the “mother of churches” in the Caucasus, in 2006 the official opening of the Albano-Udyan Chotari Church in the village of Nizh Gabala District, where the Udine lives compactly.