Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of ‘looting’ monastery in Nagorno-Karabakh

By Rafig Shahbazov, OC Media

Azerbaijan has accused Armenia of looting the Davidank monastery in Nagorno-Karabakh, known as Khudavang in Azerbaijani, when it was under Armenian control.

The statement comes amidst a renewal in a dispute over the heritage of the monastery and other similar sites, with Azerbaijan claiming they are Caucasian Albanian, and not Armenian — a theory widely dismissed as pseudohistoric.

Caucasian Albania was an ancient Christian state that existed in modern-day Armenia and Azerbaijan.

On Monday, the head of Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage agency, Sabina Hajiyeva, said Armenia ‘looted’ the monastery when they withdrew from Kalbajar region following the end of the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War in 2020, ‘taking crosses, bells, and other elements belonging to the complex’.

‘The frescoes were also cut from the walls and stolen, and were later displayed at various exhibitions abroad as “works of art of Armenia” ’, Hajiyeva said.

She added that Azerbaijan filed the claim through Interpol’s Stolen Works of Art Database in October 2025, which she said could facilitate their return if they are found in an Interpol member state.  OC Media couldn’t verify Baky’s claims that

Hajiyeva said the identification of Caucasian Albanian Christian heritage should be based on historical sources, archaeological evidence, inscriptions, architectural features and the historical context of individual monuments. She also described Dadivank and Gandzasar (Ganjasar), another monastery in Nagorno-Karabakh, as important examples of Caucasian Albanian Christian heritage.

Caucasus Heritage Watch, an open-source cultural sites watchdog, reported that the St Hovhannes Mkrtich church had been destroyed by Azerbaijan. They analysed satellite imagery appearing to show that the church was completely destroyed between 28 December 2023 and 4 April 2024.

While not new in the conflict, disputes over the origin of monasteries in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas has recently flared up after Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev toured a group of foreign diplomats in Gandzasar and Dadivank in mid-September.

While there, Hajiyev presented the monasteries as part of the Christian heritage of ancient Caucasian Albania.

The tour drew criticism in Armenia, with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan saying on 15 September that Azerbaijan’s conduct did not contribute to strengthening peace. Armenia’s Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan later said he had spoken with Hajiyev about the issue and stressed that the peace process required a cautious approach.

The Armenian Apostolic Church has also criticised Hajiyev’s portrayal of the monasteries as Caucasian Albanian. Meanwhile, members of the Peace Bridge Initiative Armenia, a coalition of civil society groups, said the dispute could deepen mistrust between the two societies and urged those involved in the peace process to avoid actions that could reinforce hostility.

In Azerbaijan, the Udi community, an ethnic minority believed to have descended from Caucasian Albanians, issued a statement on 18 September describing the two monasteries as being part of their cultural heritage and accusing Armenian political and religious circles of denying said heritage.

On Tuesday, the Western Azerbaijan Community, an initiative group calling for the return of Azerbaijanis displaced from Armenia, also issued a statement on the matter.

The Western Azerbaijan Community’s work appears to be coordinated and funded by the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration, focusing on ‘Western Azerbaijan’ — an irredentist narrative Yerevan says promotes claims that Armenian territories are Azerbaijani.

The initiative announced the creation of a working group on Tuesday to study Caucasian Albanian heritage in Armenia. The group said it would examine churches, monasteries, khachkars, and other religious monuments using archival documents and other primary sources, with the aim of compiling relevant material into a single academic database.

‘The visit of foreign diplomats to the Ganjasar monastery complex in September 2026 showed that cultural heritage has entered the diplomatic agenda’, the initiative said, adding it viewed the ‘medieval monuments of Caucasian Albania’ in Armenia as ‘part of its heritage’.