Category: 2022

Azerbaijanis have displaced a khachkar (cross-stone) installed on the road to Berdzor (Lachin) in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), the Monument Watch said in a statement on July 11. The full statement is provided below.

"A video posted on David Simonyan's Facebook page on June 27, 2022 clearly shows how a group of Azerbaijanis move a khachkar installed on the road leading to Berdzor (Lachin). According to the same source, the new road being built by the Azerbaijanis, bypassing the city of Berdzor, will go through this section. It starts from the territory adjacent to the village of Kornidzor in the Syunik region, goes through the villages of Hinshen and Metsshen in Artsakh and ends in Lisagor.

Our response

The cultural heritage that has been created by a particular community (Armenians of Artsakh), is valuable and real in the form, meaning, location and landscape in which it was created, and any change is clearly detrimental to the authenticity and integrity of this heritage, as well as distorts its function. Any cultural value becomes valuable if it is interconnected with the surrounding territory and nature, and alienating it from its own cultural landscape violates the principles of heritage conservation, like many international standards.

The displacement and relocation of the khachkar first of all violates the principles of its authenticity and integrity, the principles arising from the UNESCO Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, from the Nara Document on Authenticity adopted in Japan in 1994, the ICOMOS and Burra charters, as well as documents other international organizations.

The preservation of heritage in all its historical manifestations and chronology is rooted in the values of heritage, and our ability to perceive it depends on the degree of reliability of the sources of information about them. It is they who create the necessary basis for determining all aspects of authenticity, which should make it possible to understand the type of cultural heritage object, its features, significance and history (Nara Document on Authenticity, 1994, Japan).

The perception of authenticity plays a fundamental role in all processes related to cultural heritage and its preservation. Heritage sites should be studied and evaluated in the context of the cultural context in which they are located. Phenomena of authenticity may include form and layout, materials and components, use and function, installation, tradition, location and performance, spirit and emotion, and external and internal factors. In addition, in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 9 of the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention of 1954 "On the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict" (1999), "Protection of Cultural Property in Occupied Territories", any transformation of cultural property is prohibited , including their uses and functions."

A court in Yerevan ordered the release of opposition blogger Mikayel Badalyan on a bail of 6 million drams late on Friday, Arsen Babayan, a senior member of the opposition Homeland Party, said on Telegram.

He had earlier been taken to Armenia Republican Medical Center with internal bleeding.

Badalyan, who is a pro-Russian activist, was arrested on May 24 on charges of making a “false statement about terrorism” under Article 259 of Armenia’s Criminal Code.

He denies the charges as politically motivated.

Artsakh's State Service for the Protection of Historical Environment has posted a video about the city of Tigranakert currently occupied by Azerbaijan.

"As long as it is not accessible and is temporarily occupied, we decided to organize a virtual tour of the Tigranakert State Historical and Cultural Reserve for our followers and not only,” the service said in a Facebook post.

Turkologist Varuzhan Geghamyan has commented on the UN-backed grain deal signed by Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Friday. The agreement aims to unblock grain exports from Black Sea ports.

“It can be considered an important diplomatic achievement for Turkey, because now, in response to the West’s pressure to join the Russia sanctions, Ankara has an opportunity to play the mediator card, saying ‘if not us, who can negotiate with the Russians?’,” he wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

“Having properly assessed its geographical and geopolitical position, Turkey is making the most of the clash between the two poles, discreetly promoting its own interests in the entire Greater Middle East – from Syria to the Caucasus and Central Asia.

“However, it should be remembered that despite the external and not so substantial differences, Turkey's foreign policy essentially coincides with the interests of the West, because Ankara's influence in these areas is increasing mainly at the expense of Russia,” the expert said.

Armenia’s traffic police will step up security in the country on Vardavar (the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ) to be celebrated on Sunday, July 24.

The traffic police units will heighten security on busy sections of regional roads, especially on the Yerevan-Sevan highway.

Taking into account the expected large number of holidaymakers on the shores of Lake Sevan, Traffic Police Chief Yegor Karapetyan urges drivers to be vigilant and strictly observe traffic rules to avoid accidents.

"Drunk drivers will be the center of attention and there will be no leniency towards them. Any driver violating the law will be held strictly accountable, while their cars will be taken to impound lots," he said in a statement on Saturday.

Yerevan Mayor Hrachya Sargsyan says that the city "should wake up early and the working day should start early."

“From now on, from 7am the music from the Yerevan City Hall clock tower will sound simultaneously in 12 administrative districts of the capital,” he wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

“In addition, our fellow citizens will again be able to see the time of day and the air temperature on a new LED screen installed on the roof of the Alexander Spendiaryan National Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet,” he added.