COMMUNIQUE!
In a grotesque display of ecclesiastical absurdity, the Russian Orthodox Church has bestowed upon the First Lady of Azerbaijan the Order of St. Olga. This honor, given “…in recognition of her contributions to the preservation of traditional values in society and the promotion of intercultural and interfaith dialogue,” is traditionally reserved for those who embody Christian virtues, and now tarnishes the credibility of the Russian Orthodox Church. Under the dictatorial rule of Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan has orchestrated a systematic campaign to obliterate Armenian Christian heritage in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Several churches in Shushi and elsewhere have been destroyed or repurposed into mosques, erasing centuries of Armenian presence.
We strongly condemn Patriarch Kirill’s decision in bestowing this honor and believe it is a stark departure from the Russian Orthodox Church’s historical principles. His actions suggest an alignment with those who carelessly practice cultural and religious erasure on the international stage. We interpret this move by Patriarch Kirill as a near-hostile, public estrangement from the Armenian Apostolic Church.
We are appalled that the dictator of Azerbaijan, whose repeated actions have laid bare his intent to eradicate the Armenian presence from Artsakh, is now indirectly honored through the decoration of his closest political and personal ally the First Lady and Vice President, Mehriban Aliyeva. We interpret this gesture not as a neutral act, but as a tacit endorsement of Azerbaijan’s ongoing campaign of cultural genocide against Armenian Christianity.
We assert with clarity that the Azerbaijani regime fundamentally recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church as the only remaining threat to its manufactured narrative in the region. The painfully staged conferral of ecclesiastical honors to political figures complicit in cultural destruction, and the orchestration of falsified, quid-pro-quo academic conferences all reveal the underhanded calculus of the Aliyev regime—a coordinated campaign to diminish the power, glory, and sacred authority of the Armenian Apostolic Church—even and especially at the expense of penetrating the highest levels of an institution like the Russian Orthodox Church.
We declare that we are ready for any and all strategic aggression aimed at undermining our Holy and Apostolic Armenian Church, whose uninterrupted witness to Christ millennially predates the existence of the Azerbaijani state itself, as well as the totality of its culture.
Armenian Apostolic Patriarchate of Jerusalem
