On September 27, 2020, at 7:10 a.m., the Turkish-Azerbaijani terrorist tandem unleashed a large-scale, meticulously pre-planned war against the Republic of Artsakh. The war was not only military in nature but also carried a clear genocidal intent-aiming to exterminate the physical existence of the Armenians of Artsakh and erase their centuries-old cultural presence from their ancestral land. From the very first minutes, the armed forces of Baku’s dictatorial regime deliberately targeted civilians, settlements, vital infrastructure, and cultural heritage sites. Azerbaijan was not waging a war against the Armenian army, but rather a war against Armenian identity and memory. This policy, in its essence, was directed not only against Artsakh but also against the entire Armenian nation as the bearer of a civilizational and cultural value system.
One of the most striking manifestations of this criminal policy was the attack carried out on October 8, 2020, against the Holy All Saviour in Shushi. On that day, Azerbaijani armed forces used high-precision weapons to strike the sacred site twice, fully aware that they were not attacking a military target but a spiritual center. Moreover, as a result of this war crime, representatives of international media were injured (https://hayeli.am/?p=609311&l=am). This was an open crime not only against Armenian culture but also against universal human values and international law.
According to the Second Protocol to The Hague Convention of 1954, the attack is regarded as a war crime, where both the initiator and the perpetrator, as well as those who did not prevent it, are subject to criminal prosecution and can be condemned both at the international and national levels. (Armine H. Tigranyan, ANALYSIS OF THE CASE OF ATTACK ON HOLY SAVIOR CATHEDRAL OF GHAZANCHETSOTS IN SHUSHI, (https://monumentwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/09-Մշակույթ-2022-2.pdf).
The goal of the Azerbaijani authorities was clear: to destroy Armenian sanctuaries representing universal values, erase the Armenian trace from Shushi, and from Artsakh as a whole. After the occupation of Shushi, Baku’s dictatorial regime launched so-called “restoration” works (https://monumentwatch.org/…/the-church-of-the-holy-all…), which in reality aimed to distort the architectural image of the Holy Savior Cathedral by altering its historical appearance and Armenian identity. This so-called “restoration” was an integral part of Azerbaijan’s cultural genocide program, aimed at appropriating Armenian culture and fabricating a false historical narrative.
All of this has been taking place amid the criminal silence of the international community. The OSCE, the European Union, UNESCO, and several other organizations limited themselves to ceremonial statements, showing no genuine will to prevent war and cultural crimes. This silence-this false “neutrality”-in effect became a green light for Baku to continue its war crimes. The inaction and double standards of the international community turned into a mechanism of impunity, which in turn created fertile ground for new crimes.
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Had international institutions acted appropriately after the 2020 war-had Azerbaijan been held accountable for its crimes-there would not have been another war on September 19, 2023. On that day, Azerbaijan launched a new aggression against Artsakh, which resulted in the complete occupation of the region. A mass forced displacement of the Armenian population was carried out-an act of genocide in its nature-while an unprecedented phase of cultural genocide began in the historic Armenian land. Armenian churches and monasteries, khachkars , and cemeteries are either being destroyed or “reconstructed” in an Azerbaijani style, with the goal of erasing the last traces of Armenian identity.
The silence of the international community in the face of all this is no longer neutrality-it is complicity in crime. When international organizations fail to react, to demand accountability, to impose sanctions, and continue political appeasement toward Baku, they become accomplices in the same crime. As history has repeatedly shown, impunity always leads to new crimes. In the case of Artsakh, this was demonstrated in the clearest way: the inaction of the international community after the 2020 war led directly to the 2023 tragedy-the depopulation of Artsakh, its complete occupation by fascist Azerbaijan, and the ongoing cultural genocide.
Today, as Artsakh lies depopulated and Armenian cultural heritage faces systematic destruction, the silence of the international community has become a global disgrace. This silence is not a sign of peace-it is the death knell of justice. The civilized world must understand that if Azerbaijan’s crimes against Artsakh go unpunished today, the same atrocities will be repeated elsewhere, against another people, tomorrow. Until then, every silent observer, by their silence, becomes an accomplice.
Artsakh Cultural Heritage Ombudsman Hovik Avanesov
