Jerusalem Patriarchate: A lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan must not be achieved at the cost of desecrating Artsakh’s Armenian cultural heritage

Arminfo.  The Jerusalem Patriarchate of the Armenian Apostolic Church strongly condemns the recent "presentation" at Gandzasar Monastery in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), when, in the presence of diplomats and other foreign representatives, officials representing the Aliyev regime displayed museum reproductions of manuscripts, making claims aimed at severing this site from its established Armenian Christian identity. This is stated in a statement by the Jerusalem Patriarchate.

The Jerusalem Patriarchate emphasized that such a presentation attempts to diminish the Armenian Christian heritage of Artsakh and cast doubt on its broader recognition. The patriarchate went on to stress that the history of the Armenian Apostolic Church is founded on a basis that has long been studied and confirmed by independent research. This heritage has been documented over the centuries and remains accessible through primary sources, as well as being preserved in major repositories.

"We appeal to the diplomats who took part in the visit to Gandzasar Monastery.  We assert that you were drawn into a carefully planned presentation in which museum reproductions were presented as evidence against the established Armenian

Christian identity of this site.  By recognizing that the interpretation of events was carried out without thorough verification and the due diligence of independent expertise, your visit lent the weight of your diplomatic presence to the ongoing political efforts of the Aliyev regime aimed at separating the Christian monuments of Artsakh from their well-documented history," the patriarchate stated.

"As part of your diplomatic activities, you bear responsibility for recognizing cases in which the government of the host country deliberately disseminates materials for propaganda purposes. Your inaction allowed disputed claims to spread under the guise of official observation and weakened the standards of due diligence required in your profession.

Moreover, we assert that a lasting peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan must not be achieved at the cost of desecrating Armenian cultural heritage.  As one of the four dioceses of the Armenian Apostolic Church and as the oldest Armenian diaspora organization in the world, we call on those representatives of the US government who present themselves as guarantors of these peace efforts to recognize that any proposed peace must be based on historical truth," the Jerusalem Patriarchate further emphasized.

At the same time, the patriarchate called on the Armenian government to properly condemn these acts of historical revisionism and the state itself that carries them out while speaking of peace. The Jerusalem Patriarchate expressed its conviction that a country that extends diplomatic assurances with one hand and publicly desecrates Armenian Christian monuments with the other cannot be a genuine partner in achieving such peace. The patriarchate also noted that any peace agreement concluded on the basis of these revisionist narratives would remain without substance and be doomed to failure.

"The Republic of Armenia must issue a strong condemnation. The recent silence and half-measures of the Armenian government in the face of these blatant desecrations of Armenian Christian heritage merely encourage further acts of historical and religious revisionism. We call on those factions within the Armenian government that still hesitate to condemn these actions not to be ashamed of their Armenian Christian identity by submitting to the diplomacy of the era of globalism, which demands that Christian countries ignore their history for the sake of temporary measures of geopolitical stability," the Jerusalem Patriarchate added.

Moreover, their statement emphasizes that any peace agreement concluded on the basis of these revisionist narratives will remain unpunished, submitting to the diplomacy of the era of globalism, which demands that Christian countries ignore their history for the sake of temporary measures of geopolitical stability.

"We remind these factions within the Armenian government that their hesitation to condemn these actions is under no circumstances an expression of state policy. It is rather a capitulation before the memory of Armenian Christians, who still await protection of this memory from their leaders.  The Armenian government is obliged to unconditionally defend the Christian heritage that has defined it for seventeen centuries," the patriarchate noted.

The Jerusalem Patriarchate drew attention to the fact that documents indicate that the Azerbaijani government deemed it necessary to spend significant diplomatic resources on obtaining external support, including through lobbying activities at the Vatican aimed at revising the Christian history of its territory.

"The Armenian Apostolic Church has never needed such campaigns to confirm the authority of its tradition.  This tradition has long been regarded as a subject of serious study and showcased by authoritative institutions around the world.  These centers study Armenian studies materials on the basis of their own scholarly merits, without the need for state lobbying and expenditures.

The Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem will continue to defend the integrity of this Armenian Christian heritage in Jerusalem and in all places where the Armenian Christian memory of Artsakh is called into question," the statement of the patriarchate says.

It should be noted that at the end of last week it became known that representatives of the foreign diplomatic corps accredited in Baku visited occupied Artsakh. They visited Shushi and Stepanakert, where the Azerbaijani occupation regime is erasing all Armenian presence with the silent encouragement of the so-called civilized international community. They then visited the Armenian monasteries of Dadivank and Gandzasar and listened with admiration to the tales told by Azerbaijani presidential aide Khimke Dadzhiev about how these were allegedly Albanian sanctuaries.  Among the participants was also the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus, Magdalena Grono, who likewise witnessed the show put on by Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev. The latter, in particular, attempted to accuse Armenia of falsifying history, choosing as his tool replicas of ancient manuscripts that were displayed in the museum of occupied Gandzasar