Armenian Church Built in 1621 Desecrated by Azerbaijan in Occupied Artsakh

The facade of the Holy Resurrection Church in occupied Hadrut, Artsakh

Posts on Azerbaijani social media suggest that the Holy Resurrection Armenian Church, built in 1621 in what is now occupied Hadrut in Artsakh, has been desecrated.

Alen Ghulyan, an activist, posted videos on Facebook and wrote an explanation.

“The video clearly shows that the walls of the temple are covered with inscriptions and distorted, and the cross on the dome has been destroyed. The cross was demolished after 2022. In the footage from the period when, after the occupation of Hadrut, the Azerbaijani regime declared the temple as allegedly ‘[Caucasian] Albanian’ and sent representatives of the so-called ‘[Caucasian] Albanian-Utian Christian community’ there to conduct demonstrative pseudo-religious rituals, the cross was still on the dome,” Ghulyan explained in the post.

Since the published video does not contain footage shot in the church yard, it is not possible to determine the condition of the ancient tombstones located just a few feet from the entrance to the temple, the activist said.

“Let me recall that in December 2023, the Azerbaijani regime announced plans to [Caucasian] Albanianize the Surb Harutyun [Holy Resurrection] Armenian church, as well as announced it will conducting archaeological excavations there and createa museum of ‘[Caucasian] Albanian’ culture,” Ghulyan added.