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Inga Martinyan

Samvel Karapetyan - Teaching Patriotism Through Textbooks Not Enough

Stresses importance of Armenian-built Islamic monuments in Artsakh Samvel Karapetyan, who heads the local office of the Armenian Architecture Institute, believes it is not enough for Armenian young people to familiarize themselves with Armenia through textbooks. He added that employing patriotic jargon and slogans was the wrong way to go about getting the youth of Armenia to get interested in the culture and history of the country. "A person can’t be expected to be patriotic if they are unfamiliar with the fatherland," Karapetyan said at a press conference today. Arguing that Armenian identity can be preserved only by knowing what that identity signifies, Mr. Karapetyan said the textbook approach to Armenian identity is full of potential pitfalls. Turning his attention to the importance of remnants of Islamic architecture in Armenia, Mr. Karapetyan said that last year his organization published a booklet entitled, "Islamic Monuments of Artsakh Armenian Architecture". "While we traditionally express the view that we have nothing to do with what is Islamic, these monuments often crystallize the experience of Armenian architects and aesthetic concepts. While the order to erect such a monument might have been a Muslim, the actual architect was an Armenian," Karapetyan said. The expert added that from the 14 to the beginning of the 16 century, there were Islamic monuments in Artsakh built by Armenian architects that are now credited to the Turkmens. While a list of Islamic monuments in Artsakh has yet to be compiled, an extensive project to do so is in the works according to Karapetyan. The booklet published last year will provide the basis for a much more detailed and scholarly publication in the future.

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