Nagorno-Karabakh: scientists ask peacemakers to preserve monuments

The historical and cultural monuments located in the territories that have passed under Azerbaijan's control need protection, the authors of the appeal to the Russian president have stated. They believe that the protection of monuments should be entrusted to Russian peacemakers, and then transferred under the protection of the UNESCO.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 13, Russian peacemakers entered the Karvachar District; they advanced to the territory of the Dadivank Monastery of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Believers began coming there out of fear that they would no longer be able to visit the monastery.

The "Arkhnadzor" website reports that scientists, activists and journalists have asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to protect the monuments of ancient and Christian Armenian culture in Karabakh.

According to Alexei Lidov, a Byzantine scholar, there are grounds to fear for the fate of the Armenian cultural monuments situated in the territories now controlled by Azerbaijan.

"We can recall the fate of the Armenian cemetery in the city of Djulfa, where all the gravestones were turned into rubble, the massacre of Armenians in Shushi (the Azerbaijani name is Shusha) in 1920, accompanied by the destruction of churches," Mr Lidov said.

Rustam Rakhmatullin, the coordinator of the "Arkhnadzor", has emphasized that the danger for cultural monuments is especially great in the regions that have come under Azerbaijan's control as a result of the fighting, since "the inertia of military actions remains there."

Alexei Lidov believes that placing monuments under peacemakers' protection is beneficial to all the parties to the ceasefire agreement.