THE THREAT OF DESTRUCTION OF ARMENIAN CULTURAL HERITAGE IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH
From 15 to 19 July 2022, a conference on “The Cultural Heritage of Artsakh” was held at the Yerevan State University and the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Vayots Dzor/Armenia. More than 30 international scholars and experts discussed the origin, historical development and current threats to cultural heritage in the region of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). These are part of the Armenian culture and, thus, amongst the oldest heritage of Christianity.
The motive for the meeting was an appeal by numerous scholars for the Protection of cultural heritage in Karabakh of 04.03.2021. The appeal pointed out the acute endangerment of the Armenian population and its cultural heritage.
Numerous organisations such as the World Council of Churches, the Central Committee of German Catholics and the solidarity initiative with the people in Central and Eastern Europe, Renovabis already published statements on the suffering of the people and the endangerment of the cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh. Furthermore, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in its Resolution of 27.09.2021 and the US State Department in its Report on Religious Freedom in Azerbaijan of 02.06.2022 have also taken a stand.
Meanwhile, the United Nations International Court of Justice, in an order dated 7.12.2021, called on Azerbaijan to take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration of Armenian cultural heritage objects. Most recently, on 10.03.2022, the European Parliament strongly condemned Azerbaijan’s continued policy of erasing and denying the Armenian cultural heritage in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.
The background to this is that during his visit to the 12th-century Armenian Church of the Holy Mother of God in Tsakuri Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev announced that he would remove the Armenian inscriptions from there. In addition, the Azerbaijani Minister of Culture, Anar Karimov, announced on 03.02.2022 the establishment of a working group which is apparently intended to legitimise the systematic destruction of all Armenian cultural heritage in the region.
During the 2020 war unleashed by Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani forces attacked and severely damaged the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral of the Holy Savior in Shushi twice with precision weapons. Furthermore, St. John the Baptist Church (Kanach Zham) was partially destroyed after Azerbaijani forces gained control of the city. Other churches, inscriptions and cross-stones were damaged, desecrated or destroyed. Satellite images also show that several (historic) cemeteries were destroyed.
In the recent past, Azerbaijan already erased the cultural heritage of the Armenian population in the Nakhichevan exclave, including the complete destruction of the medieval Armenian cemetery of Djulfa and its thousands of cross-stones and other monuments.
We, the conference participants, consider the Armenian tangible and intangible cultural assets in and around Nagorno-Karabakh to be highly endangered.
We call on
- all political and social actors, as well as international organisations, to commit themselves to the protection of cultural heritage and the endangered population in and around Nagorno-Karabakh;
- decision-makers to make the protection of cultural property and human rights a condition of any cooperation with Azerbaijan;
- the delegations to negotiations currently being conducted at various levels on a conflict settlement with the goal to reach a peace agreement to take also into account the legitimate interests of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh. Only a just peace can guarantee the sustainable safeguarding of cultural heritage and human rights, to which Azerbaijan has committed itself under international law;
- the European Union and its Member States to ensure that also the issues of historical revisionism, human rights and the threat of destruction of cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh will be raised in light of current negotiations and agreements with Azerbaijan on energy supplies;
- Azerbaijan to allow scientists, UNESCO and other international organisations unrestricted access to cultural heritage in and around Nagorno-Karabakh and to not deny believers access to places of worship.
The organisers:
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Martin Tamcke, Göttingen
Prof. Dr. Andreas Müller, Kiel
Dr. Dagmar Heller, Bensheim
Dr. Harutyun G. Harutyunyan, Yerevan
The participants:
Archbishop Abraham Mkrtchyan, PhD, Yeghegnadzor
Bishop Prof. Dr. Anushavan Zhamkochyan, Yerevan
Archimandrite Sahak Shakaryan, Gandzasar
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Alexander Trunk, Kiel
Dr. Roy Knocke, Potsdam
Dr. Wolfram Langpape, Hannover
Dr. Vahan Ter-Ghevondian, Yerevan
Dr. Abel Manoukian, Geneva
Lernik Hovhannisyan, PhD, Stepanakert
Prof. Dr. Ashot Hayruni, Yerevan
Prof. Dr. Hamlet Petrosyan, Yerevan
Prof. Dr. Klaus Koschorke, Munich/Thun
Prof. Dr. Dr. Thomas Sternberg, Münster
Dr. Tessa Hofmann, Berlin
Markus Meckel, Berlin
Dustin Hoffmann, Brussels
Harutyun Grigoryan, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Armenuhi Drost-Abgaryan, Halle
Dr. Anahit Avagyan, Yerevan/Eichstätt
Dr. Raffi Kantian, Hannover
Dr. Armen Kazaryan, Yerevan/Moscow
Dr. Ani Ghazaryan, Geneva
Tamara Minasyan, PhD, Yerevan
Armine Melkonyan, PhD, Yerevan/Florence
Lusine Tumanyan, PhD, Yerevan
Dr. Hayk Martirosyan, Potsdam
Arpine Springborn, Göttingen
Anahit Asatryan, Yerevan
Additional Signatories:
Pfr. Mirko Diepgen, Heidelberg
Kerstin Partzsch, Vilshofen a.d. Donau
Prof. Dr. Hans Reinhard Seeliger, Tübingen
Pfr. Wolfhart Koeppen, Passau
Pfr. Christian Dietrich, Klettbach
Pfr. Dr. Alexandru Nan, München
Georgios Vlantis, MTh., München
Spyridon P. Panagopoulos, Patras/GR
Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Moschos, Athen/GR
Prof. Dr. Wolfram Kinzig, Bonn
Pfr. Andreas Brenneke, Bochum
Prof. Dr. Volker Leppin, Hamden/USA
Prof. Dr. Ioanna Stouphi, Athen/GR
Pfarrerin Katy Christmann, Bad Kreuznach
Priester Konstantin Anikin, Halle
Prof. Dr. Jörg Frey, Zürich/CH
Prof. Dr. Guy Stroumsa, Jerusalem/ISR
Prof. Dr. Johannes Zachhuber, Oxford/GB
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emmanouela Grypeou, Stockholm/SWE
David Bundy, PhD, Manchester/GB
Dr. Thomas A. Seidel, Eisenach
Prof. Dr. Martin George, Bern/CH
Prof. Dr. Karl Pinggéra, Marburg
Manfred Schürz, Bremen
Prof. Dr. Katharina Kunter, Helsinki/FIN
Dr. Martina Horn, Mainz
Dr. Anahit Babayan, Leipzig
Prof. Dr. Bas ter Haar Romeny, Amsterdam/NL
Prof. Dr. Nils Arne Pedersen, Aarhus/DK
Pfarrerin Marianna Nestoris, Hamburg
Eva Quistorp, Berlin
Pfr. Pascal Schilling, Bochum
Christiane Roesler, Ortenburg
Prof. Dr. Thomas Mark Nemeth, Wien/AUT
Dietmar Nietan, MdB, Düren
Matthias Dörr, Freising
Pfr. Bernhard Speller, Minden
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult Christoph Markschies, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Hans-Ulrich Weidemann, Siegen
Prof. Dr. Annette Merz, Tolbert/NL
PD Dr. Ciprian Burlacioiu, München
Prof. Dr. Lukas Bormann, Marburg
Bischof em. Prof. Dr. Martin Hein, Kassel
Prof. Dr. Heinz Ohme, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Uta Heil, Wien/AUT
Prof. Dr. Markus Wriedt, Frankfurt a.M.
Prof. Dr. Dorothea Wendebourg, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Peter Gemeinhardt, Göttingen
PD Dr. Detlef Metz, Schotten/Tübingen
Apl. Prof. Dr. Tilman Schröder, Tübingen
Prof. Dr. Hans Schneider, Marburg
Prof. Dr. Berndt Hamm, Erlangen
Dr. Georg Röwekamp, Tabgha/ISR
Prof. Dr, h.c. Dr. Karl W. Schwarz, Wien/AUT
Prof. Dr. Holger Strutwolf, Münster
Dr. Bassam Sabour, Hamburg
Regionalbischof Dr. Dr. h.c. Johann Schneider, Oldenburg
Dr. Regina Elsner, Berlin
Dr. Ellen Überschär, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Petros Vasiliadis, Thessaloniki
Pfr. Sören Asmus, Duisburg
Dr. Anna Briskina Müller, Halle
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Sommer, Neuendettelsau
Stefan Kube, Zürich/CH
Dr. Annette Weidhas, Leipzig
Rüdiger Noll, Berlin
Pfarrerin Dr. Ariane B. Schneider, Halle
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Hartmut Lehmann, Kiel
Dr. Silke Lehmann, Kiel
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Wischmeyer, Wien
Adrian Schad, Veltheim/CH
Gayane Balmanukyan, Mainz
Sarah Stamboltsyan, Reichenbach
Dr. Andreas Baumann, Bad Homburg
Muriel Mirak, Weißbach
Stepan Schischmanjan, Stuttgart
Archi Galentz, Berlin
Gunter Wahl, Schweitenkirchen
Pfr. Dr. Diradur Sardaryan, Göppingen
Marion Manuel, Malsch
Vartkes Alyanak, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Erich Kettenhofen, Merzig
Pfr. i.R. Michael Damm, Amt Wachsenburg
Gabriele Damm, Amt Wachsenburg
Takouhi Kelechian-Balian, Karlsruhe
Bedros Balian, Karlsruhe
Dr. Rüdiger Burchardt, Berlin
Heinrich Geuther, Rheinbreitbach
Dr. Hervé Georgelin, Athen/GR
Prälat Dr. Martin Dutzmann, Berlin
Dr. Christa Grengel, Berlin
Prof. Dr. Thomas Bremer, Münster
Prof. Dr. Dr. Alfons Fürst, Münster
Dr. Gevorg Kazaryan, Athen/GR
Prof. Dr. Hayk Avetisyan, Yerevan
Dr. Pavel Avetisyan, Yerevan
Narine Dilbaryan, PhD, Yerevan
Dozent Pargev Barseghyan, PhD, Yerevan
Lehrbeauftr. Alvard Barkhudaryan, Etchmiadzin/ARM
Dr. Aleqsan Hakobyan, Yerevan
Prof. Dr. Vano Yeghiazaryan, Vanadzor/ARM
Armenuhi Demirjyan, PhD, Yerevan
Melanya Balayan, PhD, Stepanakert
Siranuysh Margaryan, PhD, Yerevan
Dr. Eva Mnatsakanyan, Yerevan
Nune Mkrtchyan, PhD, Yerevan
Nara Sargsyan, PhD, Yerevan
Dr. h.c. Nikolaus Schneider, Essen
Pfrn. Renate Ellmenreich, Nürnberg
Gayane Eliazyan, PhD, Yerevan
Lilit Cilbukhchyan, Yerevan
Siranush Aspaturyan, Yerevan
Lusine Eroyan, Yerevan
Maria Duynamalyan, Yerevan
Mushegh Zhoroyan, Wien/AUT
Artak Sahakyan, Wien/AUT
Yerevan, 19.07.2022