Armenian activists called on diplomats to condemn the visits of their colleagues to Karabakh.
Public organizations and activists from Armenia, Nagorno-Karabakh, and the diaspora appealed to diplomatic missions in Yerevan. They demanded a political and legal assessment of the visits of foreign representatives to Karabakh and to seek access for a UNESCO mission to Armenian monuments.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", Karabakh activists considered the visit of diplomats accredited in Azerbaijan as legitimizing the destruction of cultural heritage. The trip took place on September 11 and 12: a delegation of 150 people representing 58 countries and nine international organizations visited Khankendi, Shusha, Agdere, and Kelbajar regions accompanied by the assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev. According to the Azerbaijani side, this was the 22nd visit of the diplomatic corps to the region since 2020; diplomats were informed about the progress of restoration work and the condition of historical and cultural heritage sites.
About 50 organizations and public figures on September 15 disseminated their appeal through Armenian social networks and media directed at foreign diplomatic missions in Yerevan. They expressed protest regarding the visits of foreign representatives to the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh left by the Armenian population and deemed their "public actions during these visits" unacceptable.
Such visits cannot be viewed solely as tourist or cultural events, the authors emphasize. "These are territories from which the indigenous Armenian population was forcibly displaced in September 2023, while Armenian historical and cultural heritage is being destroyed, altered, appropriated, and its Armenian identity erased," the text of the appeal states.
On September 19-20, 2023, Azerbaijan conducted large-scale military operations in Karabakh, after which an agreement was reached to cease hostilities and disarm the Karabakh Defense Army. As of January 1, 2024, the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh ceased to exist in accordance with the decree of its last president Samvel Shahramanyan. "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a reference "The Beginning and End of the Unrecognized Republic of Artsakh".
The visits to Armenian cultural and spiritual centers were accompanied by public photographs and, as the signatories believe, false statements. Such publications can create impressions of the international acceptability of the current situation, the authors of the appeal believe. They called on diplomatic missions to provide a political and legal assessment of the visits of foreign representatives to Karabakh and not to participate in actions that could contribute to the international legitimization of Azerbaijan's policies regarding the region and its Armenian heritage.
Activists also demanded to strive for the preservation of Armenian churches, monasteries, monuments, cemeteries, and other cultural heritage sites, to protect the right of displaced populations to safe, dignified, and non-discriminatory return, and to demand unhindered access for an independent UNESCO mission to the region to assess the state of Armenian cultural and religious heritage.
Diplomatic missions are expected to respond officially, said the Commissioner for Cultural Heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh, Ovik Avanesov. "We expect an official consideration of our appeal by diplomatic missions and the adoption of appropriate diplomatic measures," he told a correspondent of "Caucasian Knot".
The statement was signed by representatives of Karabakh and Armenian NGOs, scholars, journalists, and human rights defenders. Among them are Sergey Shahverdyan ("Agency for the Development of Culture and Tourism of Artsakh"), Artak Beglaryan ("Union of Artsakh"), Larisa Alaverdyan, the first ombudsman of Armenia and head of the "Against Violation of Law" foundation, Doctor of Historical Sciences Vagram Balayan, coordinator of the civil union "Hayakve" Avetik Chalabyan, chairman of the board of the All-Armenian Union of Writers Abgar Apinyan, as well as Raffi Kortoshyan and Emma Abrahamyan from the "Research of Armenian Architecture" foundation. The appeal was also signed by diaspora organizations – in particular, the "Franco-Armenian Union" (France).