Erasure of Armenian cultural identity in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan

Written declaration No. 839 | Doc. 16448 | 24 June 2026

Signatories:

Mr Iulian BULAI, Romania, ALDE ; Ms Boriana ÅBERG, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Meritxell ALCOBÉ, Andorra, ALDE ; Mr Régis BERGONZI, Monaco, ALDE ; Mr Bogdan BOGDANOV, Bulgaria, ALDE ; Mr François BONNEAU, France, ALDE ; Mr Nikolla CAMAJ, Montenegro, ALDE ; Mr Patrick CASEY, Ireland, ALDE ; Mr Damien COTTIER, Switzerland, ALDE ; Ms Andrea EDER-GITSCHTHALER, Austria, EPP/CD ; Mr Piero FASSINO, Italy, SOC ; Ms Béatrice FRESKO-ROLFO, Monaco, ALDE ; Mr Andries GRYFFROY, Belgium, ALDE ; Mr Szymon HOŁOWNIA, Poland, ALDE ; Mr Paweł JABŁOŃSKI, Poland, ECPA ; Mr Yuriy KAMELCHUK, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Dominik OBERHOFER, Austria, ALDE ; Ms Lucia PLAVÁKOVÁ, Slovak Republic, ALDE ; Ms Marijana PULJAK, Croatia, ALDE ; Mr Petr SOKOL, Czechia, NR ; Mr Georgios STAMATIS, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Maria SYRENGELA, Greece, EPP/CD ; Ms Victoria TIBLOM, Sweden, ECPA ; Ms Rian VOGELS, Netherlands, ALDE ; Mr Markus WIECHEL, Sweden, ECPA

This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

We recall the Parliamentary Assembly report on “Countering the erasure of cultural identity in war and peace” (Doc. 16003), as well as the European Parliament resolution of 10 March 2022 on the destruction of cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh clearly mentioning the risks to Armenian cultural heritage in the Karabakh region.

We are deeply concerned by the recent reports of the demolition of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral and the Church of St Jacob in the Karabakh region by the Azerbaijani authorities. Although these places of worship were built and consecrated in the 21st century, they hold cultural and spiritual significance for many people. Their destruction constitutes an attempt to erase a part of the region’s cultural identity and memory, and undermines cultural dialogue and reconciliation.

We call on the Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from erasing the Armenian cultural identity in the Karabakh region.