Rep. Schiff leads letter urging U.S. to protect Armenian cultural  heritage in Artsakh

ArmInfo.In a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) and a bipartisan group of forty-seven of his House colleagues urged the United States to prioritize the protection of at-risk Armenian heritage sites in Artsakh during all future diplomatic engagements with Azerbaijani officials, reported the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

"There is no clearer proof of Azerbaijan's genocidal intent than its 

systematic effort to erase every last trace of Armenian civilization 

across Artsakh - just like successive Turkish governments did in the 

wake of the Armenian Genocide," remarked Aram Hamparian, Executive 

Director of the ANCA. "We applaud Representative Schiff's leadership 

in ensuring the protection of Armenian cultural heritage, and value 

his continued efforts to hold Azerbaijan accountable for its crimes 

against humanity."

In the June 24th letter, Rep. Schiff and his colleagues write, "With 

the Azerbaijan military offensive against Artsakh in September 2023, 

there is already evidence Azerbaijan is continuing its strategy of 

erasing Armenian culture within and around this region as well." The 

lawmakers stressed, "In the face of these significant risks to 

Armenian cultural heritage, we write this letter to express our deep 

concern that the Department of State must do more to prevent 

Azerbaijan's actions. Even as your senior diplomats meet with 

Azerbaijani officials, it is unclear if these concerns are being 

raised, or are raised with the appropriate level of seriousness that 

the issue deserves."

The forty-seven colleagues joining Representative Schiff in urging 

the U.S. to protect Artsakh's Armenian heritage are Representatives 

Gabe Amo (D-RI), Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), Joyce Beatty (D-OH), Don 

Beyer (D-VA), Sanford Bishop (D-GA), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Tony 

Cardenas (D-CA), Greg Casar (D- TX), Sean Casten (D-IL), Judy Chu 

(D-CA), Lou Correa (D-CA), Jim Costa (D-CA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Anna 

Eshoo (D-CA), Dwight Evans (D-PA), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), Josh 

Gottheimer (D-NJ), Jonathan Jackson (D-IL), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Andy 

Kim (D-NJ), Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), John Larson (D-CT), Barbara 

Lee (D-CA), Susie Lee (D-NV), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Seth Magaziner 

(D-RI), Tom McClintock (R-CA), James McGovern (D-MA), Rob Menendez 

(D-NJ), Grace Meng (D-NY), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Grace Napolitano 

(D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Frank 

Pallone (D-NJ), Scott Peters (D-CA), Katie Porter (D-CA), Linda 

Sanchez (D-CA), John Sarbanes (D- MD), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Brad 

Schneider (D-IL), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Dina 

Titus (D-NV), Lori Trahan (D-MA), David Valadao (R-CA), and Susan 

 Wild (D-PA).  The letter specifically highlights the systematic 

destruction of Armenian heritage in Nakhichevan between 1997 and 

2011, as well as the recent destruction of the St. John the Baptist 

church in the city of Shushi (also known as Kanach Zham). It also 

notes that Azerbaijan has often attempted to mask the destruction of 

Armenian cultural heritage by calling its activities "restoration" of 

historical sites - as well as erasing Armenian heritage by claiming 

sites are of "Caucasian Albanian" origin. Nearly 500 Armenian 

cultural heritage sites are at risk following Azerbaijan's ethnic 

cleansing of Artsakh - including some of the world's oldest churches 

and monasteries dating back to the 4th century, and intricately 

carved khachkars (cross- stones) that have been inscribed by UNESCO 

on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of 

Humanity. 

Congressman Schiff's letter comes on the heels of the visit of U.S. 

Ambassador Mark Libby to the Artsakh city of Shushi last month. Just 

four days prior, Ambassador Libby had stated he would not "play a 

part in a propaganda show" when asked if he planned to visit regions 

subjugated by Azerbaijan during the 2020 Artsakh War and September 

2023 assault on Artsakh. The visit of a senior U.S. diplomat to 

Shushi - a town that was ethnically cleansed of its Armenian 

population, and the site of recent acts of cultural destruction - at 

Azerbaijan's behest contributes towards normalizing Azerbaijan's 

genocidal conduct while undermining trust in U.S. diplomacy in the 

region. The visit also marks a clear departure from U.S.  Assistant 

Secretary for Europe and Eurasia James O'Brien's commitment that 

there would be "no business as usual" with Azerbaijan following its 

ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.

The destruction of Armenian cultural heritage is the subject of a 

case against Azerbaijan at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), 

which issued a provisional measure in December 2021 that calls for 

Azerbaijan to refrain from "suppressing the Armenian language, 

destroying Armenian cultural heritage or otherwise eliminating the 

existence of the historical Armenian cultural presence." Following 

Azerbaijan's military attack on Artsakh, the ICJ issued another 

provisional measure in November 2023, calling on Azerbaijan to adhere 

to its obligations under the International Convention on the 

Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by taking "all 

necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and 

desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not 

limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, 

landmarks, cemeteries and artifacts." 

On June 24th, Caucasus Heritage Watch (CHW), a research program in 

heritage forensics led by archaeologists at Cornell and Purdue 

Universities, issued their seventh monitoring report detailing the 

status of Nagorno Karabakh's at-risk cultural heritage sites.  "We 

are deeply concerned that the total number of destroyed heritage 

sites rose by 75% between our Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 missions, 

along with a 29% increase in sites classified as threatened," stated 

report authors.  In addition to the 1847 Surb Hovhannes Mkrtich 

Church (Kanach Zham) church in Shushi, the CHW team recorded the 

destruction of five other Armenian cultural heritage sites in Nagorno 

Karabakh in Spring, 2024, including the 18-19th century Surb 

Ghazanchetsots cemetery in Shushi, three Khatchkars (cross-stones) in 

Kohak, a 19th to early 20th-century cemetery near Aknaghbyur, and two 

schools in Tsar and Chragh, and the entire village of Karin Tak  Read 

an overview of CHW's latest report in Hyperallergic. 

The full text of the letter is available here:

https://anca.org/assets/pdf/062424_SchiffLetter_ArtsakhHeritage.pdf