Azerbaijani Repetition of Barbarism: The Memorial Dedicated to Fallen Freedom Fighters of Berdzor Defiled

Monument Watch raises an alarm: Azerbaijani blogger Kyamram Razmovar, known for his anti-Armenian sentiment and mocking videos about Armenians, recently released a video showing the memorial to the fallen freedom fighters of the 51st battalion being desecrated by Azerbaijanis. The monument has been painted with red paint, defaced with various inscriptions, and its lower parts are damaged.

Our response is framed within the context of the European Parliament's 2022 resolution 2582 on the 'Destruction of Cultural Heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh,' which obligated Azerbaijan to ensure the exclusion of any interference in Armenian heritage sites and to uphold the principles of heritage authenticity, with restoration works carried out exclusively in accordance with those principles.

The defilement of the memorial also violates the criteria of cultural significance established by the Burra Charter (Australia, ICOMOS) of 1999. Moreover, regarding the destruction of historical evidence, it must be emphasized that according to the criteria of cultural significance, the preservation of a heritage site's historical value means maintaining the integrity of historical evidence (Burra Charter, Article 2.3).