On April 10, The Artsakh Monument Watch expressed strong concerns regarding an international conference titled “Christianity in Azerbaijan: History and Modernity,” currently underway at the Pontifical Gregorian University in the Vatican. The watchdog organization issued a statement warning that the event appears to contribute to the systematic erasure of Armenian cultural and historical heritage in territories now controlled by Azerbaijan.
According to the group, the conference features dozens of scholars from countries including Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Russia, Poland, Italy, Georgia, Germany, France, Canada, the United States, and Lithuania. However, no Armenian researchers were reportedly invited to participate, and Armenian institutions were unaware of the event prior to its launch.
Artsakh Monument Watch claims the conference promotes narratives that rebrand historically Armenian Christian monuments—such as Amaras, Gandzasar, and Dadivank—as part of the so-called “Caucasian Albanian” heritage, a controversial theory widely rejected by Armenian scholars and many in the broader academic community.
“These are monuments with hundreds of Armenian inscriptions, clearly documenting their origins. Yet they are being reclassified and rewritten as anything but Armenian,” the statement reads.
The group also voiced disappointment over the participation of some prominent international scholars who, it says, are aware of the absence of Armenian voices and the exclusion of references to Armenian history during the conference discussions.
“We express our protest and concern to Armenian cultural preservation organizations and communities, to the international academic community, and to our own authorities for allowing our memory, history, and culture to be so obscured and ignored,” the statement concludes.
