Yerevan, 19.07.2022
The threat of destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno–Karabakh
From 15 to 19 July 2022, a conference on “The Cultural Heritage of Artsakh” was
held at the Yerevan State University and the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church of Vayots Dzor/Armenia. More than 30 international scholars and experts
discussed the origin, historical development and current threats to cultural heritage in
the region of Nagorno–Karabakh (Artsakh). These are part of the Armenian culture
and, thus, amongst the oldest heritage of Christianity.
The motive for the meeting was an appeal by numerous scholars for the “Protection
of cultural heritage in Karabakh” of 04.03.2021. The appeal pointed out the acute
endangerment of the Armenian population and its cultural heritage.
Numerous organisations such as the World Council of Churches, the Central
Committee of German Catholics and the solidarity initiative with the people in Central
and Eastern Europe, Renovabis already published statements on the suffering of the
people and the endangerment of the cultural heritage in Nagorno–Karabakh.
Furthermore, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in its
Resolution of 27.09.2021 and the US State Department in its Report on Religious
Freedom in Azerbaijan of 02.06.2022 have also taken a stand.
Meanwhile, the United Nations International Court of Justice, in an order dated
7.12.2021, called on Azerbaijan to take all necessary measures to prevent and
punish acts of vandalism and desecration of Armenian cultural heritage objects. Most
recently, on 10.03.2022, the European Parliament strongly condemned Azerbaijan’s
continued policy of erasing and denying the Armenian cultural heritage in and around
Nagorno–Karabakh.
The background to this is that during his visit to the 12th–century Armenian Church of
the Holy Mother of God in Tsakuri Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that
he would remove the Armenian inscriptions from there. In addition, the Azerbaijani
Minister of Culture, Anar Karimov, announced on 03.02.2022 the establishment of a
working group which is apparently intended to legitimise the systematic destruction of
all Armenian cultural heritage in the region.
During the 2020 war unleashed by Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani forces attacked and
severely damaged the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral of the Holy Savior in Shushi twice
with precision weapons. Furthermore, St. John the Baptist Church (Kanach Zham)
was partially destroyed after Azerbaijani forces gained control of the city. Other
churches, inscriptions and cross–stones were damaged, desecrated or destroyed.
Satellite images also show that several (historic) cemeteries were destroyed.
In the recent past, Azerbaijan already erased the cultural heritage of the Armenian
population in the Nakhichevan exclave, including the complete destruction of the
medieval Armenian cemetery of Djulfa and its thousands of cross–stones and other
monuments.
We, the conference participants, consider the Armenian tangible and intangible
cultural assets in and around Nagorno–Karabakh to be highly endangered.
1. all political and social actors, as well as international organisations, to commit
themselves to the protection of cultural heritage and the endangered
population in and around Nagorno–Karabakh;
2. decision–makers to make the protection of cultural property and human rights
a condition of any cooperation with Azerbaijan;
3. the delegations to negotiations currently being conducted at various levels on
a conflict settlement with the goal to reach a peace agreement to take also into
account the legitimate interests of the Armenians in Nagorno–Karabakh. Only
a just peace can guarantee the sustainable safeguarding of cultural heritage
and human rights, to which Azerbaijan has committed itself under international
law;
4. the European Union and its Member States to ensure that also the issues of
historical revisionism, human rights and the threat of destruction of cultural
heritage in Nagorno–Karabakh will be raised in light of current negotiations and
agreements with Azerbaijan on energy supplies;
5. Azerbaijan to allow scientists, UNESCO and other international organisations
unrestricted access to cultural heritage in and around Nagorno–Karabakh and
to not deny believers access to places of worship.
The organisers:
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Martin Tamcke, Göttingen
Prof. Dr. Andreas Müller, Kiel
Dr. Dagmar Heller, Bensheim
Dr. Harutyun G. Harutyunyan, Yerevan
The participants:
Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, PhD cand., Yeghegnadzor
Bishop Prof. Dr. Anushavan Zhamkochyan, Yerevan
Archimandrite Sahak Shakaryan, Gandzasar
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Alexander Trunk, Kiel
Dr. Roy Knocke, Potsdam
Dr. Wolfram Langpape, Hannover
Dr. Vahan Ter–Ghevondian, Yerevan
P. Dr. Abel H. Manoukian, Geneva
Lernik Hovhannisyan, PhD cand., Stepanakert
Prof. Dr. Ashot Hayruni, Yerevan
Prof. Dr. Hamlet Petrosyan, Yerevan
Prof. Dr. Klaus Koschorke, Munich/Thun
Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Sternberg, Münster
Dr. Tessa Hofmann, Berlin
Markus Meckel, Berlin
Dustin Hoffmann, Brussels
Harutyun Grigoryan, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Armenuhi Drost–Abgaryan, Halle
Dr. Anahit Avagyan, Yerevan/Eichstätt
Dr. Raffi Kantian, Hannover
Dr. Armen Kazaryan, Yerevan/Moscow
Dr. Ani Ghazaryan, Geneva
Tamara Minasyan, PhD, Yerevan
Armine Melkonyan, PhD, Yerevan/Florence
Lusine Tumanyan, PhD, Yerevan
Dr. Hayk Martirosyan, Potsdam
Arpine Springborn, Göttingen
Anahit Asatryan, Yerevan