Defense of Doctoral thesis on "Ziia Buniiatov and the Invention of an Azerbaijani Past" takes place in Amsterdam

On October 18, the defense of the doctoral thesis entitled "Ziia Buniiatov and the Invention of an Azerbaijani Past" by Sara Krombach, a researcher at the University of Amsterdam took place in the Old Lutheran Church near to the Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR).

Days before the defense of the thesis a book with the same title was issued consisting of three volumes. The first one tells about the life of the falsifier of the Azerbaijani history Ziia Buniiatov till “perestroika,” the second is dedicated to his contribution of the “creation” of Azerbaijani history in the same period, and the third one presents his life and works during the years of perestroika, USSR collapse, Nagorno Karabakh conflict and first years of independence. The author has also referred to the pogroms of Armenians in Azerbaijan during the years of Karabakh movement.

The research has been prepared on the basis of interviews with Azerbaijani and Russian scholar circles, with Buniiatov’s spouse, on the basis of studies of his works as well as works of the Armenian researches.

Over 300 people were present at the event, including Leyla and Arif Yunuses who settled in the Netherlands after being politically persecuted in Azerbaijan.

Armenian embassy representative in the Netherlands told Aysor.am that the embassy’s official was also present at the event.