Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

With the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; and with the support of His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan Derderyan, Primate of the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America, from November 11 to13, 2022, a conference entitled "Nagorno Karabakh Today and Tomorrow" was held in Los Angeles, United States of America, in which leading specialists from different countries took part. The issues of preservation of Armenian culture in Artsakh were discussed, as well as a reflection was made on geopolitical, diplomatic and legal issues.

This meeting is already the fourth among the international conferences dedicated to the preservation of the cultural heritage of Nagorno Karabakh.

The programs aimed at preserving the Armenian spiritual and cultural heritage that came under Azerbaijani control as a result of the 44-day Artsakh war were discussed, reflecting with concern the facts of the destruction of monuments, as well as recording the consistent practice of destroying Armenian cultural heritage in the past in Azerbaijan. It should be noted that after coming under the control of Azerbaijan, in the years 1997-2006, 89 churches, approximately 6000 cross-stones (khachkars) and more than 22000 tombstones were destroyed in the entire territory of Nakhichevan.

The conference emphasized that the government of Azerbaijan should stop the activities of the working group on removing Armenian traces from historical monuments and allow the independent professional and monitoring groups of UNESCO's international cultural heritage and other relevant organizations to monitor the current state of the Nagorno Karabakh monuments. Relevant stakeholders, particularly the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, should ensure the fundamental rights of access to places of worship and cemeteries.

The organizers promised to continue the joint work and following the conclusion of the conference to present a clear plan of actions regarding the problems raised during the conferences held in the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Austria, the Russian Federation and the USA and their solutions.

The international community should exert necessary pressure to ensure the fulfillment of the international obligations assumed by Azerbaijan in the direction of the protection of fundamental human rights and freedoms, including the protection of cultural heritage.