Azerbaijan destroys Shiite mosque in Aygek village of Artsakh under  pretext of `construction work` - Artsakh`s Cultural Heritage  Ombudsman

ArmInfo. In the temporarily occupied Artsakh, the authorities of Azerbaijan continue to systematically carry out cultural genocide. If in the past  international organizations expressed concern over Azerbaijan's  policy of appropriating and destroying Armenian cultural heritage, it  is now evident that even Islamic monuments are falling victim to the  same behavior, as the authoritarian regime in Baku demonstrates the  same degree of indifference and destructive policy toward them,  Artsakh's Cultural Heritage Ombudsman Hovik Avanesov reports. 

One of the most recent and striking examples of this alarming reality  is the Shiite mosque of the village of Aygek in the Kashatagh region  of Artsakh, which was completely destroyed under the pretext of  "construction work." The destruction of the monument was reported by  Raffi Kortoshian, co-director of the Research on Armenian  Architecture Foundation, who presented evidence that can hardly be  described as anything other than state-level cultural genocide  (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19DCnsDePR/).

It should be recalled that even during the 2020 war, the Azerbaijani  armed forces deliberately targeted the mosques of Shushi. In  particular, on November 1, 2020, during the shelling of Shushi by  Azerbaijani forces, the Upper Mosque of Shushi-Gohar Agha Mosque-was  also damaged. These are components of a single overarching logic: a  policy aimed at erasing the historical diversity of the region,  "homogenizing" its cultural memory, and rewriting the past.

The combination of these facts shows that the Azerbaijani state  system operates not as an entity responsible for regional stability,  multiculturalism, and heritage preservation, but as a force that  initiates and carries out the systematic destruction of  civilizational heritage. This behavior contradicts the fundamental  principles of UNESCO, the Hague Convention, and several international  agreements, under which states are obliged to protect not only their  own but also the cultural heritage of other peoples.

Azerbaijan's current actions threaten the entire region's historical  and cultural landscape, formed over centuries. Not only Armenian  churches, chapels, khachkars, historical cemeteries, settlements, and  monumental monuments are being destroyed, but even Islamic structures  considered "their own" by the Azerbaijani authorities. This clearly  shows that the issue is not ethnic affiliation, but a state-driven  approach aimed at reinforcing territorial-political occupation  through the appropriation and destruction of the cultural  environment.

This situation requires an immediate and targeted response from the  international community. The destruction of cultural heritage in any  region cannot be seen as a local problem; it is a challenge directed  against world civilization. And in this context, Azerbaijan appears  not as a modern, responsible state, but as a real threat to the  security of the world's cultural heritage.