NKR Cultural Heritage Ombudsman: 12th-century crossstone  destroyed   in occupied Artsakh

ArmInfo. Azerbaijan has destroyed a 12th-century crossstone in the village of Khnapat in the Askeran region of occupied Artsakh under the pretext of conducting "construction work." 

As Artsakh Cultural Heritage Ombudsman Hovik Avanesov stated on his  Facebook page, this fact is further evidence of Azerbaijan's  systematic policy of consistently destroying the Armenian cultural  heritage of Artsakh. "Even more alarming is the fact that, on one  hand, the Azerbaijani state propaganda machine is attempting to  present Artsakh monuments from the same period as 'Albanian  heritage,' while, on the other, it is intentionally destroying them,"   the NKR Cultural Heritage Ombudsman wrote.

According to him, this contradictory, yet clearly targeted, policy  demonstrates that the "attribution" and physical destruction of  historical heritage are being carried out in parallel and  systematically at the state level. 

"It is worth noting that not only propaganda structures but also the  Azerbaijani Armed Forces and other security forces are involved in  this process, making the destruction of cultural heritage part of  state policy.  Dozens of such cases have been recorded in both   Artsakh and Nakhichevan, where the systematic destruction of Armenian  monuments has been carried out in previous decades," the Artsakh  Cultural Heritage Ombudsman concluded. 

It should be noted that Azerbaijan is pursuing a deliberate policy  not only to destroy the cultural heritage of Artsakh, but is also  changing the architectural appearance of the occupied territories,  thereby attempting to destroy both the cultural memory of the Artsakh  people and their desire to return to their territories.