Azerbaijani Journalists Infiltrate Yeghishe Arakelyan Monastery in Neutral Zone

Azerbaijani journalists infiltrated the Yeghishe Arakelyan Monastery located near the village of Mataghis in the Martakert region on December 16. This was stated in a conversation with News.am by Lernik Hovhannisyan, the Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Artsakh Republic.

"The church is in a neutral zone. We still do not know how they managed to enter the church and what they did there. The church is located 5-6 kilometers away from Mataghis, and it is closer to Azerbaijani positions than our own, which may have allowed them to infiltrate easily. We do not know whether there are peacekeepers in that area or not. In 2021, a video circulated on the internet showing armed Azerbaijanis entering the St. George Church of Mataghis and desecrating it. It was mistakenly presented as the Yeghishe Arakelyan Monastery, but it was clearly the village church of Mataghis, as even the village reservoir was visible in the footage," he noted.

According to Lernik Hovhannisyan, this was the first alarming report they had received regarding the infiltration of the Yeghishe Arakelyan Monastery. Since the end of the war, the Armenian side has refrained from entering the monastery due to safety concerns.