Information about the demolition of the Karabakh symbol has been called fake.
Reports of Azerbaijani demolition of the "We Are Our Mountains" monument in Stepanakert have not been confirmed, but this does not mean there is no threat to the monument, according to the Office of the Cultural Heritage Ombudsman and the Nagorno-Karabakh Culture and Tourism Development Agency. The image showing the demolition process was generated using artificial intelligence.
As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," Karabakh historians and activists have repeatedly reported the destruction of historical buildings and memorials in Azerbaijan. However, these reports concerned ancient monuments. On May 4, Caucasus Heritage Watch reported that a memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, erected in 2015, was destroyed in Stepanakert (Khankendi in Azerbaijan).
The Nagorno-Karabakh Republic (Artsakh) is an unrecognized state on territory that has been the scene of interethnic clashes and conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan for several decades. In the fall of 1991, the NKR declared its independence, and in September 2023, it declared its dissolution, according to the Caucasian Knot report "The Beginning and End of the Unrecognized Republic of Artsakh".
Reports of the demolition of the "We Are Our Mountains" monument have not been confirmed
Reports of the demolition of the "We Are Our Mountains" monument in Stepanakert by Azerbaijanis have not been confirmed, according to the Artsakh Cultural Heritage Ombudsman's Office and the Artsakh Culture and Tourism Development Agency.
A photograph has circulated on social media, based on which users claim that Azerbaijani forces are using construction equipment to destroy one of Artsakh's main symbols.
The authors of the statement called on public organizations and social media users not to spread unverified information and to wait for official confirmation.
Such publications could have a serious psychological impact on forcibly displaced Artsakh Armenians and Armenian society, the organizations noted, Armenia Today writes.
"The dissemination of such unverified information could also pose threats to the cultural heritage sites themselves. Unverified publications could draw undue attention to a specific monument or cultural asset and, in some cases, increase the risk of further vandalism, damage, or destruction," the statement, published by the Yerkamas newspaper, reads.
Journalists confirmed the image was fake
The image was first published on the Azerbaijani Facebook page "Khankəndililər"*. The accompanying post in Azerbaijani reads: "Leave or demolish?" In other words, the image was initially published not as confirmation of an already-occurring fact, but as a question. Once posted on Armenian social media, the photograph was taken out of its original context and presented as actual evidence of the ongoing demolition, CivilNet writes.
The publication compared the image from the Azerbaijani public page with the actual photograph of the monument and concluded that the image was AI-generated. "The actual photograph clearly shows that the steps from the monument's pedestal begin significantly earlier. Artificial intelligence, in order to accommodate a heavy excavator in the image and ensure its "stability," "erased" the actual curvature of the steps, turning the area into an unnaturally wide and flat pavement. It is also clear that stones, supposedly torn from the monument, are lying on the pavement. However, it is completely unclear from which part they were torn, since no corresponding damage or holes are visible on the statue in the photograph. Furthermore, such a patterned area simply does not exist on the monument. Moreover, the supposedly broken section of the monument is clearly unnatural. The cross-section of "Grandfather"'s head has the appearance of digital, stepped zigzags. Natural stone cannot split with such geometric regularity under physical impact," the publication states.
The Hive service for detecting content generated by artificial intelligence concluded that the image was generated with a probability of 99.7% or higher with using artificial intelligence, the publication states.
As of 5:51 PM Moscow time, the image on the "Khankəndililər" Facebook page*, which has 6,600 followers, is covered by a caption stating that the image has been edited. "The content resembles a photo that independent fact-checking experts believe has been edited," the post states, adding a link to a Civilnet publication on the matter. However, the image can still be viewed by clicking the "View publication anyway" button.
The "We Are Our Mountains" monument is one of the symbols of Artsakh and the entire Armenian cultural heritage of the region. The monument was built in 1967 at the entrance to the city of Stepanakert. Its authors are sculptor and People's Artist of the Armenian SSR Sarkis Baghdasaryan and architect Yuri Hakobyan, the Armenian Museum writes.