Baku is obliged to follow international principles for the protection of cultural heritage in the occupied territories.

This is stated in a statement distributed on the website monumentwatch.org, which monitors the cultural heritage of Artsakh.

“The Amaras Monastery is located near the village of Machkalashen in the Martun region of Artsakh.

After the 44-day war, as a result of the tripartite agreement of November 9, the Armenian-Azerbaijani line of contact was located at a distance of 800-1000 meters from Amaras, pilgrims visited the monastery accompanied by peacekeepers.

In the period from September 19 to 21, 2023, as a result of armed clashes, Baku occupied the Amaras monastery, leaving no time or opportunity even to save the relics.

As a result, the monastery with its material and intangible values remained under the control of the enemy.

Our reaction:

For occupied territories, Article 42 of the Protocol to the Convention on the Laws and Customs of War (The Hague, August 18, 1907), adopted at the beginning of the 20th century, is currently applicable, according to which:

“Occupied territory is territory actually under the rule of the enemy army”

and extends only where it is approved and can be implemented, or the ability to control the enemy army is created.

The responsibilities of the occupying state are also established by subsequent articles – 43-56 – of the said protocol.

Legal relations of the occupied territories are regulated by the 4 Geneva Conventions and additional protocols to the Hague Convention of 1954 (1954 and 1999).

In addition, issues related to the legality of any occupation are also governed by the UN Charter and the principle of jus ad bellum.

In accordance with the UN Charter, in the event of occupation or any equivalent situation (“invasion”, “liberation”, “occupation”), the above-mentioned law of occupation (Hague Convention 1907, Article 42) applies.”

and an essential condition for its application is not the approval by the UN Security Council of the legality of the occupation and its acceptability or unacceptability, or an explanation of the purpose of military action.

According to the testimony of Armenian historians,

The church of the Amaras monastery was founded by Gregory the Illuminator at the beginning of the 4th century.

At the beginning of the 5th century, Mesrop Mashtots opened the first school in Artsakh in the Amaras monastery.

The Government of Western Armenia in 2022, represented by the President of the Republic of Western Armenia Armenak Abrahamyan, on the issue of internally displaced persons from Shushi in 2020,

filed a lawsuit against the authorities of Baku.

Our government has created a special commission to collect complaints from indigenous Artsakh people who, due to violent and brutal persecution, left their homeland in 2023.