Armenia is historically recognized as the first nation to adopt Christianity as its official state religion, traditionally dated to 301 AD.
However, a part of the ancient Armenian Christian heritage is currently facing extinction in the South Caucasus.
Approximately 150,000 indigenous Armenians—the creators and bearers of an ancient civilization—were forcibly displaced from their ancestral homeland of Artsakh/Nagorno-Karabakh following the 44-day war in 2020, a subsequent 10-month blockade, and a renewed military offensive by Azerbaijan.
The Armenian cultural heritage which they were forced to abandon has been extensively documented.
It was built by the Armenian inhabitants’ own hands—and passed on through millennia.
In recent years, many of these sites have been distorted or repurposed, while others face imminent threats to their existence, as part of Azerbaijan's—and its ally Turkey's—goal of Turkification and Islamization of the wider region.
The organization "Spiritual Artsakh" announced on February 11 the release of The Tangible Cultural Monuments of the Republic of Artsakh, a comprehensive, two-volume ethnographic publication detailing endangered, millennia-old, Armenian religious and cultural heritage sites across Nagorno-Karabakh/Artsakh.
The 1,088-page publication authenticates 5,658 diverse monuments in 308 indigenous Armenian settlements across eight regions of Artsakh.
These monuments are at risk following the large-scale and complete displacement of the Armenian population from Artsakh in 2023.
The publication is available for free download in both English and Armenian.
The publication offers a comprehensive inventory of cultural heritage monuments, including monasteries, churches, khachkars (cross-stones), and cemeteries.
It authenticates each site by detailing its location, type, period, function, architectural style, artistry, historical context, and current state of preservation.
While raising global awareness of the urgency to protect these cultural monuments, this evidence-based repository supports academic research on Artsakh’s long-standing historical, ethnographic, cultural, and religious Armenian traditions.
In 2021, during an interview standing near the church in the village of Tsakuri in Hadrut (which was broadcast and widely circulated online), President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev personally ordered the scrapping of all Armenian inscriptions on Armenian churches.
Therefore, it is quite obvious that a pronounced policy of destruction and desecration of Armenian cultural heritage is currently being implemented by a state actor at scale.
To date, Azerbaijan’s destruction of historical monuments and various structures of Armenian origin in Artsakh has been numerous.
At present, the free entry of journalists and experts into the territory of Artsakh is generally prohibited.
According to satellite imagery and information received through various channels, some settlements have been completely razed to the ground.
This includes all of the monuments, including graves, in the villages of Karin Tak, Mokhrenis, and Sghnakh.
The 19th-century district of Stepanakert, built in the Armenian architectural style, was completely destroyed, as were the buildings of the National Assembly, the government, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Union of Freedom Fighters, and several other buildings built in Stepanakert during the independence years.
Throughout Artsakh, monuments and memorial complexes dedicated to the Artsakh Liberation War have been completely destroyed.
Armenian churches have also been targeted.
The Ghazanchetsots Amenaprkich Cathedral in Shushi was bombed during the war, and immediately after the war.
The famous Hovhannes Mkrtich (St.
John the Baptist church) or Kanach Zham (Green Church) in Shushi, as well as those in Berdzor, Mekhakavan, and several other churches, have been completely razed to the ground.
Ali Mozaffari, an Iranian academic of Azerbaijani descent who is a senior research fellow at Australia's Deakin University, says the latest apparent drive to wipe out physical traces of Armenian heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh is an issue that....
