Pan-Armenian Council for the Protection of the Armenian Church: The barbarian`s bulldozer and administrative applications written to order cannot erase Armenian history in Artsakh

ArmInfo. "The latest statement from the Caucasus Muslims Office is nothing more than a shameful and cheap service, hidden under a religious veil, justifying the barbarities of the Baku dictatorial regime," the Pan-Armenian Council for the Protection of the Armenian Church said in a statement.

"The complete destruction of the Cathedral of the Holy Mother of God in Stepanakert and the audacity to label it an 'illegal building' is the height of overt cynicism. One who desecrates and levels a house of God, a religious sanctuary, does not assert the law but signs off on their own savage and terrorist nature. This is a cultural crime of a genocidal nature, aimed at the complete eradication of the Armenian spirit and Armenian roots from Artsakh. It is hypocrisy bordering on immorality when those who justify the destroyers of Armenian churches and desecrators of khachkars dare to accuse the Armenian Church of 'obstructing peace'," the Pan-Armenian Council stated.

The statement further emphasizes that Azerbaijan is building not peace, but a new disaster upon ethnic cleansing, destroyed monasteries, sacrilege, blood, and the fate of the forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians. It is noted that what is imposed through the trampling of dignity and the erasure of memory is not peace; it is an act of capitulation and humiliation that we will never accept.

At the same time, the Pan-Armenian Council for the Protection of the Armenian Church emphasized that as soon as any spiritual structure justifies vandalism, it ceases to be religious and turns into an accomplice to the criminal.

"But the international community is no less an accomplice. Your blind and deaf silence, your standardized and helpless 'concerns' grant Baku an unlimited license for impunity. We demand in the strongest possible terms an end to international diplomatic hypocrisy. Human rights, religious, and cultural structures, including UNESCO, must either abandon their status as cowardly observers and demand tough sanctions against Azerbaijan, or equally share the guilt for this cultural genocide," the statement continues.

The Pan-Armenian Council for the Protection of the Armenian Church emphasized the need for the immediate deployment of an independent international mission to Artsakh to monitor the shameful destruction and to hold the authors and perpetrators of this barbarity accountable.

"The barbarian's bulldozer and administrative applications written to order cannot erase Armenian history. The stones of Artsakh’s churches, even in ruins, are stronger than your entire state propaganda machine," the Pan-Armenian Council for the Protection of the Armenian Church concluded.

As a reminder, on April 21, it became known that Azerbaijan had leveled the Church of the Holy Mother of God (Surb Astvatsatsin) to the ground. Days earlier, reports emerged regarding the destruction of Saint James Church (Surb Hakob) in Stepanakert by the enemy side. The cultural genocide in Artsakh is taking place against the backdrop of silent encouragement from the so-called "civilized international community." Day after day, the Azerbaijani occupiers are destroying sites that testify to the millennia-long Armenian presence on this land.

It should be noted that following the occupation of Artsakh, Azerbaijan has completely destroyed or significantly damaged the following cultural and religious sites:

• Kanach Zham Church (St. John the Baptist) in Shushi was completely destroyed in April 2024.
• Ghazanchetsots Cemetery in Shushi was entirely decimated.
• Karintak Village was completely razed by bulldozers.
• Monuments and busts in Stepanakert were dismantled, including monuments to Charles Aznavour, Hovhannes Aivazovsky, Hovhannes Tumanyan, and Marshal Baghramyan.
• The Marshal Khudyakov Museum in Mets Tagher village was destroyed.

Currently, approximately 4,000 Armenian cultural sites remain under Azerbaijani control, including more than 370 churches and 119 ancient fortresses.