The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia officially refutes the publications in different media platforms of Azerbaijan, that the reinforcement, repair and restoration works of immovable monuments of Armenian history and culture located in the demarcated areas between Armenia and Azerbaijan (and not only) are allegedly pursuing a goal of the elimination of “Avgan traces”.
“Such news is an obvious lie, another manifestation of Azerbaijan’s manipulative policy of falsifying historical facts.
In particular, the church of Kirants village, Tavush marz, RA (locals call it Saint Trinity) was built in the 19th century from local rough stone and is a three-nave basilica Armenian church. The inscription (“1888 ami”) in the upper part of the window of the southern depository confirming the fact of being Armenian has been preserved, with the date of construction, and the Armenian inscription to the right of it. This Kirants church was turned into a warehouse during the Soviet period. In 2024, with the funds allocated by the RA government, the works of reinforcing, repairing and restoring the monument and drawing up scientific design documents for the installation of the bell tower-rotunda will be carried out.
The central dome church of St. Astvatsatsin in Voskepar, Tavush marz, RA was built in the 7th century. It belongs to the “Mastara-type” structures of early medieval Armenian church architecture (St. Hovhannes of Mastara, St. Gregory of Harichavank, St. Gevorg of Artik, Arakelots of Kars). The early medieval church of Voskepar underwent major repairs in 1975-1977, but due to the infiltration of moisture caused by atmospheric precipitation, the roof coverings of the church were destroyed, and the roof beams were damaged. In 2024 the roofing of the monument will be restored with state funds.
The early Christian temple of Yereruyk, Shirak Marz, RA, which was also targeted by Azerbaijani information propaganda and presented as a Turkic monument with a false historical claim, is included in the preliminary list of UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage and in the list of the most endangered cultural monuments of Europa Nostra.
The Yereruyk temple and the surrounding area are rich in cultural layer, as evidenced by the results of the studies carried out by the Armenian and Italian archaeological expeditions over the years.
The project of strengthening and restoration of the Early Christian Cathedral of Yereruyk is being carried out within the framework of cooperation between the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia of the RA and the US Embassy in Armenia, with funding from the “Fund for the Protection of Cultural Values” of the US Ambassador in Armenia.
Preservation, restoration and popularization of the historical and cultural heritage of the Republic of Armenia is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and the state carries out continuous work in this direction.
We call on the relevant circles of Azerbaijan not to distort the historical facts, as well as to ensure the preservation of the Armenian historical and cultural monuments under the control of Azerbaijan, particularly ensuring the visits of the international observation mission for the purpose of monitoring the Armenian monuments in the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh,” the statement reads.
