Artsakh NGO says Yerevan school principal ordered removal of monument image

By Zhanna Avagyan

A school principal in Yerevan ordered the removal of an image depicting Artsakh's iconic "We Are Our Mountains" ("Grandma and Grandpa") monument, calling it an "anti-state act," according to a statement by the Center for the Preservation of Artsakh Culture, a non-governmental organization.

In a statement published on its Facebook page, the organization said Armenia is witnessing a "dangerous trend of deconstructing the memory" of Artsakh's cultural identity.

According to the NGO, Armenian state institutions have failed to take sufficient steps to protect Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh. It argues that, despite existing international legal mechanisms, Armenia has not initiated the necessary procedures at UNESCO, the United Nations, and other international platforms to document violations against Artsakh's cultural heritage, prevent further destruction, and pursue legal accountability.

The organization also criticized recent public statements by Armenia's leadership, which it said portray the preservation of Armenian churches and cultural heritage in Artsakh as an internal matter for Azerbaijan. According to the NGO, such a position weakens Armenia's legal and political standing and could undermine future international legal efforts.

The statement also addressed recent reports that some cultural groups had been instructed to remove the word "Artsakh" from the titles of their works. The NGO noted that, according to an official response from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, no written or verbal instructions of that kind had been issued and no ban exists on displaying Artsakh's symbols in institutions under the ministry's authority. At the same time, the organization argued that, in practice, restrictions on expressions of intangible cultural heritage have been imposed at the level of individual institutions.

As an example, the NGO cited an incident at the Anushavan Ter-Ghevondyan Music School in Yerevan. According to the organization, a student's artwork depicting the "We Are Our Mountains" monument in Stepanakert was removed from an exhibition after the school's acting principal described it as an "anti-state act."

Destruction of cultural heritage

The statement comes amid continued concern over the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh.

In April, it emerged that Azerbaijan had completely demolished the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert. It had previously demolished the city's St. Jacob Church. Commenting on the issue, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said such questions should also be viewed through reciprocal examples. He argued that if the Armenian-controlled exclave of Artsvashen were to return to Armenia's control in the future and a mosque were standing there, it would be necessary to consider how Armenian society would react.  

The destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh has also been extensively documented by independent experts. Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW), a project launched by Cornell University that uses satellite imagery to monitor nearly 500 Armenian cultural heritage sites in Artsakh, has documented numerous cases of destroyed churches, cemeteries and other monuments.

Its latest report states that since the 2020 war, several Armenian heritage sites have been completely destroyed, including Kanach Zham Church in Shushi, the Ghazanchetsots cemetery, and the cemetery in Mets Tagher village, while the village of Karintak has been almost entirely erased. CHW also documented that 98% of the Armenian cultural heritage in Nakhichevan was destroyed between 1997 and 2011.