April 4, 2021

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"Summary"

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The geographically small Nagorno-Karabakh is rich in cultural and religious heritage. It is therefore not surprising that the recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over this contested territory spurred not only considerable debates about both the ius ad bellum and the ius in bello (for example here, here and here), but also concerns about the safety of the region’s cultural heritage. De jure a part of Azerbaijan since Soviet times, with ethnic Armenians in control since the end of the last major conflict between the Armenia and Azerbaijan in 1994, the tables shifted again in NagornoKarabakh as a result of last year’s war.

Over 4,000 Armenian heritage sites such as historical churches, monasteries, monuments and cultural museums are said to be potentially at risk (e.g. here and here), including the famous monastery complex of Gandzasar, which was founded in 1216 and represents one of the most important pieces of Christian heritage in the region. Furthermore, Armenia officially reported to the UN Secretary-General about attacks against the Armenian Church of the Holy All-Savior(Ghazanchetsots) in Shushi, founded in 1888 and one of the largest Armenian Apostolic churches.

Azerbaijan – somewhat expectably – denies any intentional destruction of these and other cultural and religious sites, claiming that its forces “do not target historic, cultural and especially religious buildings and monuments.” At the same time, Azerbaijanian sources accuse Armenia of destroying ancient Albanian, Muslim and Orthodox cultural and spiritual heritage “by Armenianizing and Gregorianizing it”.