Azerbaijan Must Not Be Allowed to Continue Cultural Genocide, Mother See

It is with sorrow that we learned of the incident that occurred on the night of November 9-10 of this year. Following the joint statement on the ceasefire signed by the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Russia, Azerbaijanis entered the city of Shushi in Artsakh and desecrated the Ghazanchetsots Church, leaving their marks on the church's exterior and interior walls, reports the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin.

“We unequivocally condemn the act, qualifying it as blatant vandalism and an expression of intolerance. It must not be allowed that Azerbaijan, under the patronage of the genocidal Turkey, continues its policy of cultural genocide, which has been manifested in various forms for decades in Azerbaijan and its Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic,” the Mother See stated.

“At the same time, we call on the international community and interfaith and inter-church organizations to raise their voices and take appropriate actions to stop similar barbaric acts and manifestations of anti-Armenian sentiments towards religious and cultural monuments and sites in Artsakh by Azerbaijani authorities,” they emphasized.