Turkish Journalist Blames Azerbaijan for Vandalism in Occupied Artsakh Territories

Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut, residing in Israel, published an article on the Providence website where he accuses Azerbaijan of distorting history and condemns the Azerbaijani government's decision to erase Armenian inscriptions from religious monuments in the occupied Artsakh territories as a result of the 2020 Azerbaijani aggression.

The journalist emphasized that this decision by Azerbaijan directly violates an International Court ruling, which stipulates that Azerbaijan must take all necessary measures to prevent desecration and vandalism attempts against Armenian religious and cultural monuments situated within Azerbaijani occupation.

Bulut reminds readers that this is not Azerbaijan's first attempt to destroy Armenian cultural heritage. Two prominent researchers specializing in cultural heritage, Simon Magakyan and Sarah Pickman, wrote in 2019 that Azerbaijan has erased 89 medieval churches, 5840 khachkars, and 22,000 graves in Nakhchivan. Magakyan referred to this as the largest cultural genocide of the 21st century.

The Turkish journalist also addressed the treatment of Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey following the Armenian Genocide from 1914 to 1923. He noted that after genociding the Armenians, the Turks repurposed Armenian homes, schools, and churches into banks, mosques, warehouses, and more, or simply used them as stables for Turks and Kurds.

Bulut wrote that similar crimes have been committed against Greeks and Assyrians. The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, once one of the most famous buildings in the world, was first desecrated and converted into a mosque in the 15th century when Ottoman Turks invaded the city. The journalist reminded that in 2020, the iconic structure was converted back into a mosque, and a month later, another historical Greek church, Khora, faced the same fate.