On February 20, during the official visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to Italy, the “Baku Sultan” once again became distinguished by the “Azerbaijanization” of Armenian culture.
At the Quirinale Palace in Rome, a concert was being held to mark the beginning of the “Year of the Culture of Azerbaijan in Italy”. The event was attended by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and the latter’s daughter Laura Mattarella. In the concert program, Armenian music was performed, which Azerbaijanis presented as ancient Azerbaijani.
The State Chamber Orchestra of Azerbaijan performed the work of famous Armenian composer, musicologist, and folklorist Komitas “Sari Aghchik” (“Mountain Girl”), presenting it as an Azerbaijani folk song.
Despite all the efforts of Azerbaijan to ascribe Armenian culture to itself, scholars are well aware of the existence of a note recording of “Sari Aghchik” made by the hand of maestro Komitas himself. Composer Arthur Shahnazaryan reminded about this in his commentary to Sputnik Armenia. Moreover, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu mentioned the song as originally Armenian in the Turkish television program Şeffaf Oda in May 2011.
The appropriation of Armenian culture by Azerbaijanis is not new. We can only sympathize with a nation that does not have its own cultural achievements and is forced to steal from neighbors and even enemies. Even the most notable Azerbaijani cultural figure, Muslim Magomayev, was not only not an ethnic Azerbaijani, but he also owes all his popularity to Armenian composer Arno Babajanyan.
Source: infoteka24.ru
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