Paul Goble
Staunton, Sept. 10 – Since Azerbaijan recovered Karabakh and ended the existence of the Armenian Artsakh government in 2023, there have been complaints about vandalism of Armenian sites in that territory. But now, Yerevan scholars have released a two-volume 1088-page guide to 5658 such sites, including information on their current state.
The study, entitled Monuments of Material Culture of the Republic of Artsakh, which was financed by a US-based Armenian foundation and carried out by three leading experts on the region, is available online and for downloading in both Armenian and English (artsakhculturalheritage.org/#download).
Its authors say that their work is intended not only to provide a reliable guide to these Armenian heritage objects but also to appeal to the international community to work with Azerbaijan and Armenia to ensure that they survive rather than be damaged or lost forever (kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/426496).
While the authors say that their listing of Armenian heritage sites in Karabakh is far from complete, this listing is far and away the most comprehensive ever compiled and is likely to be the basis for assessing how well Baku lives up to its commitment to honor Armenian sites and for determining how the international community will assess its actions there.
Because of the attention this work is likely to get, it may inspire Azerbaijani researchers to compile similar catalogues of what happened to Azerbaijani heritage sites in areas Armenian forces occupied in recent years and even lead those involved in other inter-ethnic clashes on the territory of the former Soviet Union to do the same.
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