Azerbaijan Seeks to Erase Armenian Inscriptions on Monuments in Occupied Territories

Azerbaijan seeks to eradicate Armenian inscriptions on monuments in occupied territories, as it has consistently done in areas that have come under its control. This was stated by Raffi Kortoshyan, the deputy director of the Foundation for the Study of Armenian Architecture, in an interview with NEWS.am, commenting on the announcement by Azerbaijan's Minister of Culture Anar Karimov that a working group has been created for the Albanization of Armenian monuments.

“In reality, Anar Karimov is a liar and a fraud. This was proven in November when the hostilities were halted, and he posted a false statement on his Twitter page, supposedly backed by images, claiming that Armenians are placing khachkars everywhere, thus Armenianizing everything, even the fortress of Shahbulakh, located in the area of Aghdam. We proved that the attached images belonged to one of the fortresses of Akhaltsikhe, which is located 2000 kilometers away. He distorted everything and circulated these images in embassies, and he has yet to remove that statement from his Twitter page. Therefore, his announcements are more political and aimed at doing something further with Armenian monuments. This means that his statement implied that wherever we eliminate Armenian khachkars, we do so because they were specifically placed in some location to signify that monument. The same statement he made recently about the group created to verify whether these monuments are Albanian or not, and whether the inscriptions are fake or not, is already a challenge, as they want to erase and destroy those inscriptions, as they have always done in areas that have come under their control. Thus, it is clear what Azerbaijan's next step will be. The announcements are insufficient.

Azerbaijan’s president visited Hadrut, showing inscriptions near the Tsaghkavank and claiming they are fake, stating they are 17th-century inscriptions published in several works before the state of Azerbaijan was established in the 19th century. If these two statements were made before the well-known decision of the Hague Court, the last announcement made by Anna Karimova came after the verdict, which is already a challenge to the court as it mandated Azerbaijan to punish any vandalistic actions against Armenian monuments from now on and not to make statements regarding the distortion of Armenian monuments,” he noted.

According to the archaeologist, if Azerbaijan's working group acts and we have facts, the Armenian side could take more effective measures. “If announcements are made about actions against the Hague Court's decision, and we see that Azerbaijan has begun to erase these inscriptions, we have the right to present those facts to the UN Security Council, rather than to UNESCO-like bodies lacking authority. The UN Security Council is obliged to make decisions regarding the unmet decisions of the Hague Court. I believe the announcements at this stage are commensurate with the made announcements. In other words, if there had been no such announcement in previous phases, the recent announcement by the authorities is proportional. However, this should not be sufficient, and if we find evidence that such actions have been carried out, we should appeal to the UN Security Council,” he emphasized.

Raffi Kortoshyan mentioned that they have cataloged all Armenian monuments and churches in Artsakh, including photographs of all of them. “Our organization has more than 60-70 thousand photographs of monuments from Artsakh, covering about 99 percent, which are well organized, and against any incidents of vandalism, we can swiftly respond not only with photographs but also with maps, measurements, and placements concerning settlements. The number of monuments is very high; more than 1500 registered monuments have their passports. We have documented many more; there could be tens of thousands more, alongside monuments that may have already gone underground,” he added.

It should be noted that on February 3, a working group for the Albanization of Armenian monuments was established by Azerbaijan's Minister of Culture Anar Karimov. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia issued a statement harshly condemning the announcement made on February 3 regarding the establishment of a working group aimed at destroying and altering the identity of Armenian religious and cultural monuments that have fallen under Azerbaijan’s control.