Armenian websites and telegram channels have been recently spreading news about Azerbaijan’s demolishing the monument erected in honor of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War in Lachin. Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan touched on this incident on his Twitter account and wrote, “Azerbaijan razed to the ground in Lachin (Simonyan wrote the name ‘Berdzor’ ed.) the memorial complex erected in memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War” and added an inflammatory message: “I wonder, will there be a reaction of patriots to the destruction of the monuments dedicated to the memory of those who died in World War II, this step that tarnishes our great victory, talk shows, reports? Or will we deal with calls to the parties to observe restraint as usual, right? Double standards, stupidity and greed, and then they ask with a surprised expression: when and what went wrong again?

Faktyoxla Lab. has investigated whether the opinions expressed in Telegram channels and the media are true.

First, let's look at the condition of this monument built during the Soviet period before the occupation of Lachin.

The Armenian invaders completely destroyed the monument one year after the occupation of Lachin (on May 18, 1992):

In this photo taken by photographer Miguel Torres, a part of the engraving of the "Victory" order can be seen removed from the wall.

Over the years, the monument was completely destroyed, changed, and khachkars, an eternal example of Armenian forgery, were added.

In 2011, the Lachin Memorial Complex, which was already dedicated to the memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War, is being "turned into a "commemorative complex" of terrorists who took part in the occupation of Lachin region. First, the names of the Great Patriotic War participants written on all three walls of the monument were erased, and the names of the terrorists and militants killed by the heroic soldiers of the Azerbaijani army were written.

This can be found in the 2013 post of the "Hayrenaser" page on Facebook. The admin of this page admits that Lachin was occupied by Armenians and this monument was updated to perpetuate the memory of terrorists killed during the occupation.

In addition, the Armenian media confirms that the "commemorative complex" in Lachin was built in memory of the Armenians who took part in the occupation of Lachin. That is, we are not even talking about the monument erected in memory of the participants of the Great Patriotic War. These opinions are again confirmed by the posts in the Armenian media. It is noted that the names of fighters killed in Lachin are written on all three walls. The memorial complex consists of three khachkars. One khachkar was dedicated to the "special regiment", to the memory of those who took part in the second invasion of Shusha, and finally to Vazgen Sargsyan, the commander of the third occupying army, who was eliminated in the 1999 parliamentary terror.

Confirmation of these ideas can be found in the report of the Armenian channel "Civilnet".

The response of Aykhan Hajizada, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, to the provocative speech of the speaker of the Armenian parliament was not long in coming.

“Another aggressive rhetoric & falsification by Armenian leadership: 1) It was Armenia, who destroyed the WWII monument by erasing all the bas-reliefs dedicated to WWII & pasting inscriptions related to the occupation of Lachin and list of Armenian terrorists burned it in May 1992. 2) Armenian Speaker and closer associate of the Prime Minister (a PM who recognized Azerbaijan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity) calls Lachin, Azerbaijan’s ancient town, as “Berdzor,” inflicting another attack on Azerbaijan’s sovereignty. 3) Armenian leaders should end false rhetoric and respect Azerbaijan’s sovereignty!” Hajizada tweeted.

In the end, let's return to the opinion of Armenians, and especially Alen Simonyan, that Azerbaijan “razed to the ground” the memorial complex built in Lachin in memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War.

This is the condition of the Sari Ashig monument, which was built in the same Lachin district, before and after the occupation.

That is, the sketches are the condition of the memorial complex destroyed by Armenians and restored by Azerbaijan, and the other photo is a visual example of Armenian vandalism against historical and cultural monuments.

Conclusion:

- The claim of the Armenian media that Azerbaijan wiped out the memorial complex built in Lachin in memory of those who died in the Great Patriotic War is completely false;

- The monument complex built during the Soviet revolution was completely changed by the Armenian forces and turned into a complex attributed to the so-called heroes;

- Azerbaijan will restore that memorial complex again.