WASHINGTON — On June 24, Congressman Adam Schiff (D-CA) spearheaded a letter Secretary of State Antony Blinken, joined by 47 U.S. Representatives, emphasizing the preservation and protection of Armenian cultural, historical, and religious sites in Artsakh, while highlighting the ongoing destruction of these vulnerable sites, reported the Armenian Assembly of America.
“We welcome Representative Schiff’s bipartisan letter to Secretary of State Blinken, which underscores the critical importance of preserving Armenian cultural, historical, and religious sites in Artsakh,” said Assembly Congressional Relations Director Mariam Khaloyan. “Azerbaijan’s ongoing genocidal policy is reflected in the systematic destruction of Armenian cultural heritage sites. We urge the Administration to take decisive action to hold Azerbaijan accountable and to prevent further loss of our cultural identity,”
The letter urged the Administration to “take swift action” and cited
Cornell University’s Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW) stating that “Azerbaijan was responsible for the destruction of 98 percent of Armenian cultural heritage sites in the Nakhchivan exclave between 1997 and 2011…with the Azerbaijan military offensive against Artsakh in September 2023, there is already evidence Azerbaijan is continuing its strategy of erasing Armenian culture within and around this region as well.”
The letter highlighted Azerbaijan’s recent reconstruction of the St. John the Baptist Church, (also known as Kanach Zham/Green Church) located in Shushi as “an example of the quiet destruction of sites that have significant value to Armenians…these activities are not benign and ultimately result in the erasure of Armenian culture and a systematic cleansing of the region of its historic Armenian roots.”
The Armenian cultural heritage sites in Artsakh, numbering almost 500, have significant value globally, as exemplified by UNESCO naming Armenian “khachkars” on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, which is “an indication of the significant cultural value of these artifacts.”
