Photos: Azerbaijanis Destroy Memorials Dedicated to Fallen Heroes in Artsakh

Vandals from Azerbaijan are destroying memorials dedicated to the heroes who sacrificed their lives for their homeland in occupied educational institutions in Artsakh. This concern was raised by Haik's cultural ombudsman and Azerbaijani expert, Hovik Avanesov.

"Since September 27, 2020, Azerbaijan has systematically destroyed dozens of monuments and complexes in Artsakh at a state level. In December 2020, Azerbaijani vandals had annihilated Armenian monuments in Talish and Mataghis. The independent academic platform Monument Watch reported on the destruction of the Glory Memorial in Berdzor, the monument dedicated to the Karabakh Liberation War in the village of Ukhtadzor in the Hadrut region, the demolition of the water monument in the village of Aghanus in the Kashatagh region, the destruction of Anatoliy Zinevich's bust, the demolition of the monument-cross in the city of Martakert, and the desecration of the brotherly cemetery in Haterk.

The targets of Azerbaijan's cultural genocide also include the Evangelical Memorial, the memorial stone of Artsakh hero Ashot Ghulyan, the memorial complex dedicated to the fallen in the village of Hakaku in the Hadrut region, the monument dedicated to the victims of the Great Patriotic War and the Karabakh War in the village of Karin Tak in the Shushi region, the monument commemorating the victims of the Armenian Genocide, the Great Patriotic War, and the Karabakh War in Shushi city, and the memorial complex in the village of Azokh dedicated to the victims of the Great Patriotic War, the Karabakh War, and the victims of the Genocide.

This again shows that the cultural heritage of Artsakh is under threat of destruction and appropriation. According to Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, any act of vandalism, theft, plunder, appropriation, hostility, and retribution against cultural heritage is prohibited. The first protocol of the Hague Convention of 1954 prohibits the destruction of cultural or spiritual values in occupied territories," he wrote.