Priests and followers of Armenian Church should have unimpeded access to Holy Savior Church in Shushi -MFA

During the 2020 military aggression unleashed against Artsakh and its people, the Azerbaijani Armed Forces on October 8 carried out double air strikes on the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral of the Holy Savior in Shushi with high-precision weapons, causing significant damage to the latter. A few days after the trilateral announcement on November 9, the same church was vandalized and desecrated. Along with the physical damage to the Shushi Cathedral, Azerbaijan continues to try to distort the Armenian identity of the church, which is being done by changing the architectural appearance of the church under the pretext of renovation.

The repeated strike of a place of worship is a crime not only punishable under international law, in particular the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (1954) with its Second Protocol (1999), but also as a symbolic revelation of intent. It is a clear manifestation of Azerbaijan’s policy aimed at eradicating any trace of the Armenian presence in Artsakh.

One year after the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan against Artsakh, the fate of about 1,500 historical and cultural heritage sites, places of worship, as well as thousands of museum specimens in the Azerbaijani-held territories of Artsakh remains uncertain and endangered. There are many documented cases of deliberate destruction and vandalism of Armenian churches, other cultural and religious monuments by the Azerbaijani armed forces. In addition, along with their physical destruction, we are witnessing the falsification of historical facts by Azerbaijan, the distortion of the identity of Armenian monuments. In this context, it is not accidental that Azerbaijan continues to block or restrict as much as possible the access of the UNESCO expert mission to the endangered Armenian cultural heritage sites, trying to cover up the war crimes committed by it.

The atrocities against the places of worship of the historical and cultural monuments, places of worship, which are the cultural and caring heritage of the peoples, grossly violate international law, contradict universal values, and are strongly condemned. The Shushi Cathedral is one of the strongest centers of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Artsakh, and the ministers and followers of the Armenian Church should have unimpeded access to that sanctuary.