Artsakh Cultural Heritage Ombudsman, Vice-President of the “National” Historical-Cultural NGO Hovik Avanesov
On December 1, 2025, our partner—the State Service for the Protection of the Historical Environment of Artsakh—published a video that had been filmed in the village of Patara, in the Askeran region of the Republic of Artsakh, which is temporarily occupied by Azerbaijan.
In the video, the “Azerbaijani” side presents the khachkars of that village as supposedly “Albanian-origin” monuments, continuing a policy that a wide range of international experts and specialists in the field assess as a systematic reattribution of historical-cultural heritage and falsification of cultural identity.
This process is not new. The policy of “Albanization” of Armenian historical-architectural heritage began as early as the late 1950s and strengthened further during the 1960s. From that time until today it has transformed into a state-coordinated strategy, whose every level is overseen by the authorities of “Azerbaijan,” led by President Ilham Aliyev.
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According to critics, the core of this policy is the distortion of historical facts, the primary goal of which is the complete eradication of Armenian cultural presence in the region. In previous decades, the ideological target of “Azerbaijan” was mainly the Armenian monuments of Artsakh, Utik, and Nakhichevan, but since the 2000s the geographical scope of this policy has expanded. It now includes hundreds of monasteries and churches located within the Republic of Armenia—from the Mother Cathedral of Etchmiadzin to Sevanavank, Noravank, Haghartsin, Goshavank, Tatev, Harichavank, Geghardavank, and others.
Similar academically unfounded reattributions have also been made regarding Armenian churches located in Georgia and in Western Armenia (territories occupied by Turkey following the Armenian Genocide), including the Holy Cross of Aghtamar. It is troubling that this policy has also spread to Georgian heritage—the most striking example being the David Gareji monastic complex, which the Baku regime has presented as “Albanian.”
This policy of the “Azerbaijani” authorities not only endangers the history of the region but also the entire cultural diversity of the Caucasus. The Albanization policy is not limited to erroneous or academically unsubstantiated reattributions; it is also accompanied by the systematic destruction of cultural heritage.
From the perspective of international law, this constitutes a double violation: first, the distortion of the authenticity of the heritage, and second, its physical destruction. The destruction of khachkars is considered one of the gravest crimes against humanity. In particular, the complete eradication of the khachkars of Jugha—on whose site a military shooting range was later built—has been extensively documented by independent observers, photographers, and reports of numerous international organizations.
The historical-cultural monuments of Artsakh have faced the same fate, including the Saint Sargis Church in the village of Mokhrenes in Hadrut (the village was later destroyed), the Saint Hovhannes Mkrtich (Saint John the Baptist) Church of Shushi, which the “Azerbaijani” state propaganda machine has presented as an “Orthodox” or “Albanian” church, and other historical-cultural monuments.
These facts—repeatedly documented by independent researchers, the international press, and archival materials—demonstrate a systematic policy aimed not only at denying Armenian cultural heritage but also at eroding the multilayered identity of the region’s historical-architectural monuments. All of this shows that the entire civilizationalպ heritage of Artsakh is under threat of destruction.
State Service for the Protection of the Historical Environment of Artsakh
