Those who were pushing against the recognition of Azerbaijan's dolma as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity were not able to provide any objective evidence that this dish is originally Armenian, well-known culinary specialist Stalik Khankishiyev told the correspondent of Vestnik Kavkaza, recalling the ideological struggle that unfolded over dolma in late 2017 - early 2018.
UNESCO has recognized Azerbaijan's dolma as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity on December 6, 2017, despite the resistance of Yerevan.
"We did a lot of work, and we were very actively opposed - I would not call these people, who endlessly declare that they invented everything in this world, starting from water, fire and wind, our colleagues," Stalik Khankishiyev said in the first place.
"As a result, they embarrassed themselves, because they could not bring a single argument and could not refute any of our arguments. Our arguments were based on elementary logic, knowledge of the world around us and Turkic languages," he stressed.
The word 'dolma' appears in all Turkic languages in different variations. For example, the Kazan Tatars say 'tulma'. Uzbeks, Kirghiz and Turks have a similar word and a similar recipe. They cook dolma everywhere, starting from Morocco," the famous chef stressed.
"It's just logical: all Turks could not take the recipe of dolma from one nation," Stalik Khankishiyev concluded.
After UNESCO has recognized Azerbaijan's dolma as the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a campaign was launched to promote dolma as an Armenian dish. Back then Khankishiyev explained that this hostile action is part of a general propaganda program to dehumanize the Azerbaijani people and try to convince the international community that Azerbaijanis do not have their own culture, history and, as a result, rights to their own territories.
