For half a year now, 13 monastic complexes, 122 churches, 52 castles, 4 chapels and 523 khachkars (cross stones) have been endangered in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). The Minister of Culture of Artsakh presents the huge losses of the rich Armenian heritage in territories occupied by Azerbaijan - a total of about 2000 monuments at the ‘ Artsakh’s Endangered Heritage: A Challenges Hub’ conference.
The conference will become an annual platform, which will present the issues, challenges and priorities of preserving the Armenian cultural heritage.
The ten state and two private museums of Artsakh with 20,000 exhibits are in danger of extinction, including the museums of Arthur Mkrtchyan, Shushi History, Geology, Fine Arts, and Carpets. The Tigranakert fortress-museum is under the control of Azerbaijan, and the unique specimens excavated in Azokh were taken to Azerbaijan. The increasingly violent facts of the destruction of Armenian traces have really turned into a cultural catastrophe.
For several months now, Azerbaijan has been obstructing the visit of the UNESCO mission to Artsakh, seizing the legacy of millennia with open cynicism. Azerbaijan also targets our religious rights: Armenian pilgrims are not allowed to enter all Artsakh shrines.
