Azerbaijan has destroyed the monument to Artsakh hero Ashot Gulyan (Bekor Ashot) in the center of occupied Stepanakert, the capital of Azerbaijani-occupied Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), reports the Artsakh Tourism & Culture Development Agency.
The full statement runs as follows:
“On August 24, the day of remembrance of Artsakh Hero Ashot Gulyan (Bekor), we are compelled to record yet another cultural crime: the destruction of his monument in the center of Stepanakert.
The monument to Ashot Gulyan, created by the renowned Armenian sculptor Yuri Samvelyan, was erected in 1996 at his burial site in the park named after him. Earlier, the hero’s remains were reburied in his native village of Khndzristan, but today the condition of his grave remains unknown.
The destruction of monuments is not merely vandalism, but part of Azerbaijan’s systematic policy aimed at erasing the memory of heroes and the cultural identity of the people of Artsakh. Such actions grossly violate international conventions on the protection of cultural heritage and the rights of Artsakh Armenians to preserve memory, history, and to return to their homeland.
We must speak out loudly: Azerbaijan’s responsibility for the destruction of cultural heritage must be documented by the international community. At the same time, it must be stressed that the best protection of cultural heritage is the guarantee of the inalienable right of the people of Artsakh to return.”
Ashot Ghulyan—widely known as Bekor—was born on October 6, 1959, in Baku and later moved to Stepanakert, where he worked in a factory before joining Artsakh self-determination movement in the late 1980s. As a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), he emerged as not only an activist, but a key partisan and national figure in the First Artsakh War. Wounded in 1991 in the Hadrut region, Bekor nonetheless went on to command forces in decisive operations, including the captures of Khojaly and Shushi, and fought in major battles across Askeran, Shahumyan, Karkijahan, Verin Shen, Dashalty, Lachin, and beyond. His unit was among the first to enter Shushi in 1992, a moment that solidified his legacy as one of Artsakh’s most daring commanders. Known not only for his battlefield courage but also for his ingenuity, he crafted homemade grenades and repaired vital equipment, earning deep respect from his men, whom he treated with care and attentiveness. Bekor was killed on August 24, 1992, during the battle for Drmbon near Mardakert, just as the war reached its climax. Posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Artsakh—the republic’s highest honor—his memory lives on through schools, streets, and battalions that bear his name, as well as monuments, including the now-destroyed memorial in Stepanakert, which stands as a tragic symbol of cultural erasure.
