“It’s natural that Azerbaijan must do everything to make sure that the rhetoric Ilham Aliyev has used for years comes true after our defeat in the war. Now, everything is being done to make sure that all Armenian traces in the occupied territories are erased,” the deputy chair of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth, and Sport Affairs, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, said at the Article 3 club.
In his opinion, “Azerbaijan is also trying to show the international community that these territories allegedly belong to Azerbaijan ‘historically.’ Even after the signing of the November 9th statement, we, as the National Assembly, have tried to with everything from letters to UNESCO, the Pope, the Russian patriarch to letters to the international community in general to prevent Azerbaijan’s actions. You remember that the Russian patriarch also made a statement saying that the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral and Dadivank are under the direct protection of the Russian president, but there is also an issue here since Azerbaijan is violating political agreements and trying to do everything to make sure that the Armenian layer is erased from these territories.”
Regarding the distortion of the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan said that the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral is of special importance as its position and dome are visible from Stepanakert, and it constantly raises hopes among Armenians that Shushi will be returned to them soon. He added that the parliamentary deputies continue to write letters to various international organizations and authoritative people, trying to inform them about the genocidal policy of Azerbaijan.
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The head of the ministry’s Department for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, Harutyun Vanyan, presented the ministry’s position condemning the policies implemented by Azerbaijan whose intention is to erase the Armenian traces in Artsakh, which had also taken place in Nakhichevan; over 10,000 tombstones, 4,000 khachkars, and churches were destroyed there. “We are now seeing the same policies being implemented in Artsakh’s occupied territories. They deliberately targeted the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral, Kanach Zham, monuments dedicated to heroes of the first war, tombstones, and khachkars. They also are not only deliberately changing historical Armenian settlements, but also the names of monuments,” Vanyan said.
He said that Artsakh had over 4,000 registered historical-cultural monuments prior to the second Artsakh war, and over 1,450 of those are currently in the territories occupied by Azerbaijan. Among them include churches, ancient sites, caves, and cultural-historical masterpieces. “Azerbaijan’s policies can be divided into several parts. One is destruction, the other is to erase Armenian traces from important monuments that will comparatively receive a stronger reaction. They want to present our monuments as Albanian or Udi by distorting history,” he emphasized.
Regarding the efforts made by the ESCS Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he said that UNESCO intended to send an observation mission to Artsakh and the territories occupied by Azerbaijan that have Armenian monuments, but all their actions are being disturbed. “They are not allowing the entrance of international observation missions to those territories, which is proof of their genocidal cultural policies.”
He also said that the ministry is working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in all possible international channels to condemn and bring to the international community’s attention Azerbaijan’s unacceptable policies, and they are looking for new opportunities to bring awareness to the international community within the context of collaboration with ICOMOS regarding Azerbaijan’s cultural genocide in the occupied territories.
A representative of Artsakh’s Ministry of Education, Arman Grigoryan, emphasized that according to their preliminary calculations, approximately 2,000 monuments have remained under Azerbaijani occupation, including 13 monasterial complexes, 122 churches, 52 fortresses, 536 khachkars, 4 chapels, and many other monuments.
“Today, we bear witness to Azerbaijan’s barbaric treatment of our cultural treasures. Azerbaijanis vandalize, disrespect, and destroy Armenian churches while taking advantage of the fact that the Armenian side does not have the opportunity to maintain its cultural treasures,” he said.
Arman Grigoryan also spoke about the church that was destroyed in Mekhakavan. “Azeris either destroy, vandalize, or appropriate… we lost the war, but we did not lose in culture, which is why our voice needs to be heard by the civilized world,” Grigoryan said.
Gohar Hakobyan
