Azerbaijan is seeking to appropriate Armenian cultural heritage by portraying medieval Armenian monasteries in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) as part of the legacy of Caucasian Albania, an Armenian cultural heritage monitoring organization said.

Monument Watch, which documents threats to cultural heritage in Artsakh, issued the statement following a September 11-12 visit to Artsakh by a delegation of about 150 representatives from 58 countries and nine international organizations accredited in Azerbaijan.

On September 12, the delegation visited the medieval Armenian monasteries of Gandzasar and Dadivank under the guidance of Hikmet Hajiyev, an aide to Azerbaijan’s president and head of the presidential administration’s foreign policy department.

According to Monument Watch, Azerbaijani officials presented the monasteries as part of the Christian heritage of Caucasian Albania, an ancient polity that existed in parts of the eastern Caucasus.

The organization challenged claims reportedly made during the visit that khachkars (Armenian cross-stones) embedded in the walls of a small domed church at Dadivank were modern reproductions artificially aged in vinegar during the period when Artsakh was self-governing.

Monument Watch said historical records dating back decades before Artsakh’s independence disproved the allegations.

Seven of the khachkars bear inscriptions dated between 1172 and 1190, the organization said, citing a 1999 publication by Armenian architectural historian Samvel Karapetyan. It also referenced research by M. Ter-Movsisyan, who documented inscriptions on two of the stones in 1911 and published them in 1938, and by Sedrak Barkhudaryan, who recorded additional inscriptions in the 1960s and published them in 1982.

The organization said the reuse of older stonework in church construction was a common practice in medieval Armenian architecture. The small domed church at Dadivank dates to the late 13th century, when builders in the area frequently incorporated existing stones into new structures. A millstone was also used in the church’s masonry, it said.

Monument Watch also rejected suggestions that the khachkars’ well-preserved condition indicated that they had been recently made. The stones are carved from basalt, a durable rock that generally preserves carvings better than softer materials such as tuff, felsite and limestone, it said.

The organization described Azerbaijan’s portrayal of Armenian churches, monasteries, inscriptions, manuscripts and other cultural artifacts as part of a systematic effort to appropriate Armenian heritage and erase its historical identity.

It said the treatment of Dadivank Monastery should also be considered in the context of Azerbaijan’s establishment of military control over Nagorno-Karabakh and the mass displacement of its ethnic Armenian population between 2020 and 2023.

Monument Watch said presenting individuals with limited expertise as scientific authorities would do little to lend credibility to Azerbaijan’s campaign to recast Artsakh’s Armenian heritage as Caucasian Albanian.