“Azerbaijan is trying to erase the Armenian trace and presence at all costs,” says the Catholicos at an online conference

On March 3, His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, participated in the online conference titled “The Christian Historical-Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Armenian Highlands and Neighboring Areas,” organized by the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe (Sweden), the Office of Spiritual-Cultural Heritage of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, and the Panache Peacekeeping Alliance (Slovakia).

The co-chairs of the conference included His Grace Bishop Tiran Petrosyan, the Papal Delegate of Central Europe and Sweden, the Director General of the State Hermitage, Prof. Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, and the President of the Forum of Armenian Associations of Europe, Dr. Ashot Grigoryan.

During the two-day conference, over twenty reports will be presented by distinguished scholars, public figures, and clerics from Armenia and abroad.

The conference opened with remarks from His Holiness Garegin II, who expressed his blessings and gratitude to the organizing committee, speakers, and participants.

Speech of His Holiness Garegin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, at the Online Conference “The Christian Historical-Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Armenian Highlands and Neighboring Areas”

Esteemed Bishop Tiran Petrosyan, Papal Delegate of Central Europe and Sweden, Honorable co-chairs Mr. Mikhail Piotrovsky and Ashot Grigoryan, and distinguished participants of the conference,

We bring you our blessings and greetings from the spiritual center of Armenia, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. The gathering of this conference is particularly important and timely, especially now, as months ago Azerbaijan unleashed a war against the Republic of Artsakh in collusion with Turkey and terrorist groups, during which Armenian ecclesiastical and cultural monuments were damaged.

For centuries, our nation, empowered by its national character and spiritual values, has built its life in its native land, erected magnificent churches, and created unique manuscripts and high-value works of art and wisdom. The heritage of Artsakh, as an inseparable part of Armenian culture, has significantly enriched both our national and the global cultural treasury with its unique contribution.

However, today, the fate of Artsakh's millennia-old heritage is again endangered due to the war and the areas occupied by Azerbaijan. Regrettably, we must note that since last November, the official Baku has been obstructing the UNESCO initiative to send experts for assessing the situation of the Armenian spiritual-cultural heritage in Artsakh through various means.

In this regard, the Mother See, alongside the state and civil institutions of Armenia and Artsakh, has appealed to international organizations and state leaders to take necessary measures to safeguard our centuries-old national and spiritual heritage, our holy sites, our monasteries and churches, and thousands of khachkars, and to prevent their destruction.

The obsession of Azerbaijan to erase anything related to the Armenian people also manifests in its condemnable attitude towards human life. Azerbaijan, violating the norms of international humanitarian law, refuses to fulfill its commitment for the exchange of prisoners of war “all for all,” declaring soldiers captured after the ceasefire announcement as saboteurs, who were hiding in forests or at their positions unaware of the war’s termination.

It is evident that Azerbaijani authorities are trying to erase the Armenian trace and presence in the land of Artsakh at all costs. The complete destruction of the numerous khachkars in the centuries-old Armenian cemetery in Nakhchivan and the inadequate reaction of the international community regarding this may have prompted Azerbaijan to believe that cultural genocide can go unpunished.

This is evidenced by the fact that during the last war, the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shoushi was shelled twice, the domes of the St. John (Green Hour) Church in Shoushi were destroyed, Armenian monuments in Talish were obliterated, and the khachkars at the Kataro Monastery on the summit of Dizapait Mountain and in the village of Arakel in the Hadrut region were also destroyed.

A troubling trend has also emerged regarding Azerbaijan’s misrepresentation of the historical facts concerning the ownership of church structures of Armenian spiritual culture, particularly in the territory of Artsakh. For this malicious purpose, there are also attempts to present scientifically unfounded theses under the guise of historical justification, which claim that Armenian churches and holy sites are structures of Caucasian Albanian origin. A new policy of appropriating Armenian heritage is being implemented by Azerbaijan, and we have witnessed its manifestations recently.

In this regard, it is imperative today to demonstrate an objective scholarly approach against the Azerbaijani policy of occupation and historical falsification. It is commendable that the esteemed participants present at this conference, well aware of history, will make the Christian heritage of Artsakh and the region, its belonging, and the importance and necessity of its preservation more accessible to the international community through your discourse.

Once again, bringing our blessings and gratitude to the organizers of the conference and all of you, we wish you all good health, success in your commendable activities, and good progress in the conference’s proceedings.