This is the 19th-century St. Yeghishe Armenian Church in Mataghis, Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). In this video, the Azerbaijani military insults, vandalizes the Armenian church with cynicism, openly showing this and knowing full well that the church is Armenian. The Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman) of the Republic of Armenia (RA), Arman Tatoyan, wrote about this on his Facebook, and posted the respective video showing the atrocities of the Azerbaijanis in this church.
“In the video, they [the Azerbaijanis] say the following:
Before entering the church: ‘Let’s now enter the church of these (meaning Armenians), where I have already performed the namaz [i.e., the Muslim prayer].’
After entering the church: ‘This belongs to the Armenians, everything here belongs to the Armenians; we have torn [them].’
It is obvious that this is an act carried out with clear hatred, both on ethnic, religious grounds. Moreover, it is not about the result of a single case, but of years of systematic policy of hatred and enmity in Azerbaijan, which continues today.
The RA Human Rights Defender will present this case to the international bodies, noting that it is another proof that a policy of ethnic cleansing and genocide against Armenians took place in Artsakh in September-November 2020,” Tatoyan added in particular.
