The Council of the National Democratic Pole issued a statement strongly condemning the visit of Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan, to the medieval Gandzasar monastic complex, where, according to the statement, a propaganda-style presentation was organized in the presence of foreign diplomats.

According to the authors of the statement, ancient Armenian manuscripts were mocked during the event and presented as forgeries, while the display of manuscript replicas was portrayed as an attempt to discredit Armenian heritage. The Council emphasizes that, in its view, factual or legal control over any territory cannot change the national and historical identity of the cultural values located there.

The statement refers to Articles 4 and 5 of the 1954 Hague Convention, as well as Article 9 of the 1999 Second Protocol, which establish obligations to respect and preserve cultural property, including in occupied territories, and prohibit actions that conceal or destroy evidence of cultural identity.

The Council also criticized the foreign diplomats who attended the event, as well as the position of the Armenian authorities, describing them, in its words, as demonstrating “silent consent and inaction.”

In the concluding part of the statement, the National Democratic Pole calls on UNESCO and the international community to provide a clear and specific assessment of what it describes as acts of vandalism against Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh and to take effective measures to prevent them.