Europa Nostra urges preservation of multicultural heritage in Karabakh

PanARMENIAN.Net - Europa Nostra and the European Association of Archaeologists have reiterated their commitment to the holistic preservation of the integrity, authenticity and diversity of the rich cultural heritage which is located in the Caucasus region and which is the expression of a multicultural and multi-religious past and present of this region and of Europe as a whole, the two organizations said in a statement.

"We therefore deplore and condemn any act of damage, destruction or distortion of cultural heritage sites, which has happened as a consequence of a conflict or of the lack of respect for any of the cultures that have flourished in the Caucasus region, and in particular in and around the area internationally known as Nagorno-Karabakh. Referring to many international and European documents, we wish to recall that such acts are clearly not acceptable and unlawful," the statement reads.

"We firmly believe in the essential value of cultural heritage as a vital resource and responsibility for present generations to pass on to future ones. We recognize and celebrate the cultural diversities as they are represented in our shared heritage; these can help in building bridges of mutual respect and understanding above ethnic or religious divides, as a critical element of building lasting peace. We are thus convinced that any destruction of heritage, or any distortion and/or misconstruction of (art) history has the opposite effect, often setting the ground for renewed cycles of mistrust, conflict and even violence."

As European heritage networks that collaborate closely and fruitfully with the European Union, the organizations therefore applaud and endorse the Conclusions recently adopted by the Council of the European Union welcoming the EU Concept on cultural heritage in conflicts and crises, which enhances the EU’s approach to promoting peace, security, democracy and sustainable development.

During the recent military hostilities, Azerbaijani forces launched two targeted attacks on the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi. Azerbaijan earlier "restored" a church by replacing its Armenian inscription with glass art. Furthermore, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev visited the region of Hadrut in territories occupied by Azerbaijan and declared his intention to "renovate" a 12th century Armenian church, which he claimed to "an Albanian church". Aliyev went so far as to accuse Armenians of leaving "fake inscriptions" in the Armenian language.

Concerns about the preservation of cultural sites in Nagorno-Karabakh are made all the more urgent by the Azerbaijani government’s history of systemically destroying indigenous Armenian heritage—acts of both warfare and historical revisionism. The Azerbaijani government has secretly destroyed a striking number of cultural and religious artifacts in the late 20th century. Within Nakhichevan alone, a historically Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani forces destroyed at least 89 medieval churches, 5,840 khachkars (Armenian cross stones) and 22,000 historical tombstones between 1997 and 2006.