I had a free day in Nakhchivan and took the opportunity to explore the city on my own. During my wanderings, I found myself in one of the city’s largest graveyards, a Kabristaan. It was filled with the graves of martyred soldiers who had lost their lives in the forty-four-day war with Armenia. As I’ve explained in my previous blogs, Azerbaijan and Armenia are sworn enemies, engaged in numerous territorial disputes. They are natural adversaries, akin to India and Pakistan, and have continuously struggled over territory. In total, these two foes have fought thirteen wars, starting with the 1918 conflict. These conflicts have persisted, with the latest being the 2023 conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. While Armenia has emerged victorious in most of these conflicts, Azerbaijan has been more dominant from 2018 to 2024, reclaiming over 41 square kilometers of land, including five cities, four towns, and more than 286 villages. In many of these conflicts, Russia has intervened and brokered ceasefires. The graveyard I stumbled upon was filled with the graves of Azerbaijani soldiers killed in these various conflicts. I was saddened to see elderly mothers and young wives, all dressed in black, weeping and mourning at the graves of their loved ones. One mother wept as she washed the grave where her fallen son was laid to rest.
The graveyard was adorned with flower wreaths and photographs of the deceased men who had sacrificed their lives for their country in these territorial battles. For the first time, I felt the pain of their grieving relatives, who seemed inconsolable. It was a deeply moving experience for me, confronting death so intimately. I’m sharing this poignant experience with all of you on my blog; the video may be distressing but also profoundly moving.