News - Azerbaijan starts process of appropriating Karabakh’s ‘We Are Our Mountains’ monument

The website monumentwatch.org, which monitors Artsakh's (Nagorno-Karabakh) cultural heritage, writes that “a few days ago, the Azerbaijani website Culture of Azerbaijan published a statement about Artsakh's famous monument ‘We Are Our Mountains’ (Grandma and Grandpa), stating that it was built in the city of Khankendi [Stepanakert] in Azerbaijan in 1967 and that it is one of the many examples of Azerbaijan's tolerance of multicultural and national-religious monument.’ In 2023, there were some publications in which it was mentioned that the Armenians ‘Armenianized’ the monument. the Azerbaijani side tried to spread the theory that they are not against the monument, but its ‘ideological nationalist interpretation.’ From the Azerbaijani publications, it can be concluded that during the Soviet years, any manifestation directed at the Armenians' own history, culture, and roots in NKAO was considered ‘nationalist.’ Azerbaijan's policy towards the monument is an attempt to usurp heritage, when it not only separates itself from the Armenian affiliation, but also creates the image of a multicultural and tolerant country for Azerbaijan. With such a policy, Azerbaijan violates the 2005 UN Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions adopted in Paris.”