Following the destruction of the St. Hakob Church in occupied Stepanakert, the subsequent destruction of the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God represents the culmination of the consistent erasure of the Armenian cultural presence and the cultural genocide being perpetrated at the state level by Azerbaijan. The Artsakh Union emphasizes that these continuous new crimes are the direct consequence of the impunity for previous acts, the absolute silence of the international community and the de facto encouraging statements and inaction of the Armenian authorities.
The targeting and razing to the ground of the Stepanakert Mother Cathedral is not only a continuation of the policy of genocide against the people of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) but also a blatant violation of international law and judicial acts. These actions grossly violate the following international documents in particular:
• The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Protocols;
• The 2003 UNESCO Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage;
• The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;
• The Orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) of December 7, 2021, and November 17, 2023, which oblige Azerbaijan to prevent and punish the targeting of Armenian cultural heritage.
The Artsakh Union demands that the Government of the Republic of Armenia reconsider its encouraging inaction and rhetoric and take the following immediate steps:
• Cease the rhetoric that encourages the aggressor, which creates an illusion of impunity on international platforms and legitimizes Azerbaijan’s criminal behavior;
• Immediately apply to the International Court of Justice with a request to indicate new provisional measures within the framework of the existing interstate complaint, based on the recent and proven facts of the destruction of the Mother Cathedral and St. Hakob Church in Stepanakert;
• Raise the issue of imposing sanctions against Azerbaijan at the UN Security Council and UNESCO, as a state that regularly and grossly violates ICJ Orders;
• Make the inviolability of Artsakh’s spiritual and cultural heritage a cornerstone precondition of the negotiation process with Azerbaijan and include it in the agenda of the dialogue with the mediating United States.
The continued silence of international institutions and donor organizations is tantamount to complicity. The systematic destruction of cultural property is an international crime that threatens universal civilization. We call for:
• Imposing targeted sanctions against the military-political leadership of Azerbaijan;
• Immediately ensuring the access of an independent international monitoring mission to the occupied territories to assess the condition of the remaining monuments and to prevent further crimes.
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The Republic of Armenia, as the primary subject responsible for the protection of Armenian heritage and the rights of the people of Artsakh, and as the applicant party to the ICJ, is obliged to act decisively. Inaction and silence only open new doors for subsequent crimes.
