News - Azerbaijan turns Armenian church in Shushi into junkyard

Azerbaijan has turned the historical layers of the Meghretsots St. Astvatsatsin Church in Shushi into a junkyard. The website for monitoring the cultural heritage of Artsakh, monumentwatch.org, reports. Judging by satellite photographs published by the Caucasus Heritage Watch initiative, in the occupied city of Shushi, the remains of the Meghretsots St. Astvatsatsin Church were damaged as a result of construction work. According to a satellite image taken on November 3, 2023, the Azerbaijani side used heavy equipment to fill all the construction debris of the surrounding area onto the foundations and volumes of the church discovered as a result of excavations in 2017. Back in 2021, satellite photos showed only that the area had become unkempt and covered in grass. The Meghretsots St. Astvatsatsin Church was built in 1838 at the expense of Makhtes Akhumyants. In the 1960s, most of the premises of the church were demolished by the Azerbaijani authorities, adapted and turned into a summer open-air cinema. It should be noted that starting from the 1960s, the Azerbaijani authorities began to actively expropriate the cultural heritage of the city of Shushi, artificially changing the cultural appearance of the city, turning it into an Azerbaijani cultural center. As a result of this policy, the Armenian quarter of the city of Shushi and its monuments were significantly damaged. In particular, the Surp Amenaprkich Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in the city of Shushi was brought to an emergency condition, the Kanach Zham church was turned into a mineral water center. And the churches Kusanats Anapat and Aguletsots were completely demolished and destroyed. In those same years, the city's Armenian cemetery was destroyed by the Azerbaijani authorities. In the case of the Meghretsots Church, the Azerbaijani authorities destroyed most of the walls of the church with explosions, and the remaining foundation walls above one meter high were covered with asphalt (Mkrtchyan 1980, 155-161, Petrosyan 2010, 137-148). In 2017, excavations on the territory of the Meghretsots Church were carried out by the archaeological expedition of the Republic of Artsakh “Service For The Protection Of Historical Environment and Cultural Museum-reservations” (expedition leader Dr. Yeranyan N., architect Titanyan M.). Before the excavations, the area was completely paved, only the altar and two vaults were visible. As a result of excavations, a layer of asphalt was removed and the foundation of the church was exposed. After the occupation of the city in November 2020, the Azerbaijani authorities are actively continuing the policy of destruction and appropriation of the history and cultural heritage of the city of Shushi, which began in the 1960s. By the decision of the International Hague Court of December 7, 2021, actions to destroy Armenian churches were prohibited. “Azerbaijan is obliged to take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration committed against the Armenian cultural heritage...” (International Court of Justice, Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Armenia v. Azerbaijan), 7 December 2021, No. 2021/34). The damage caused to the cultural values of each nation is a blow to the cultural heritage of all humanity, because each nation makes its own contribution to the world's cultural diversity. According to Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property during Armed Conflict, any acts of vandalism, theft, pillage, appropriation, hostilities and reprisals against cultural heritage are prohibited. According to the First Protocol to the 1954 Hague Convention, it is prohibited to destroy cultural or spiritual values in occupied territories. Such policies of deliberate destruction of cultural heritage are also condemned by the 2003 UNESCO Declaration on the Deliberate Destruction of Cultural Heritage.