Stepanakert calls on international community to protect Armenian monuments

The historical monuments, works of art and places of worship located in territories over which Stepanakert has lost control, are being destroyed; and memorials are desecrated, said Arthur Tovmasyan, Speaker of the Nagorno-Karabakh Parliament, in an appeal to international organizations.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 16, 2020, scientists and activists called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to protect cultural and historical monuments in Karabakh.

Now, it is very difficult to get specific information about the state of Armenian historical and cultural values located in the territories controlled by Azerbaijan, said Armine Airapetyan, Director of the State Service for the Protection of the Historical Environment of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In October 2020, the Kazanchetsots Cathedral (Cathedral of Saint Christ the All-Saviour) in Shushi was shelled; local residents and Russian journalists were wounded. Azerbaijan denied any involvement in the shelling.

On November 6, 2020, Khikmet Gadjiev, an assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, stated that mosques and Muslim cemeteries had been desecrated in Nagorno-Karabakh, which was detected after the establishment of Azerbaijani control over a number of territories. Thus, in the Gubadli District, the Mamar Mosque, a monument of the 18th century, was turned into a pigsty. Mr Gadjiev treated this as an insult to Muslims, since a pig is considered an unclean animal in Islam.

Earlier, Polad Bulbul ogly, the Azerbaijani Ambassador to Russia, stated that all Armenian cultural monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh will be preserved.