{"id":24354,"date":"2026-04-23T07:23:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=24354"},"modified":"2026-04-23T07:27:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T07:27:39","slug":"statement-by-anc-international-destruction-of-the-holy-mother-of-god-cathedral-in-stepanakert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=24354","title":{"rendered":"Statement by ANC\u2013International Destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ANC\u2013International strongly condemns the destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral (Surb Astvatsatsin) in occupied Stepanakert by Azerbaijani authorities. Occurring on the eve of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, this act marks a serious escalation in the systematic erasure of Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage in Artsakh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Consecrated in 2019, the cathedral symbolized the revival of Armenian religious life and the continuity of indigenous Armenian presence. Its destruction\u2014confirmed by satellite imagery\u2014follows earlier attacks on Armenian cultural and religious sites and reflects a broader, deliberate effort to eliminate the Armenian historical footprint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">These actions constitute serious violations of international law and UNESCO instruments protecting cultural heritage, and they contravene binding orders of the International Court of Justice requiring Azerbaijan to prevent and punish such acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ANC\u2013International expresses concern over the lack of a meaningful international response. Continued silence risks deepening impunity and undermining prospects for justice and the safe return of displaced Armenians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ANC\u2013International calls for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Immediate independent international monitoring of cultural and religious heritage in the affected territories;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Targeted measures to ensure accountability for deliberate destruction;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Elevating heritage protection within international engagement on the South Caucasus;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Urgent legal and diplomatic action by Armenia, including recourse to international judicial mechanisms.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The destruction of cultural heritage is an attack not only on a people\u2019s identity but on the shared heritage of humanity, requiring prompt and principled international action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Armenian National Committee &#8211; International<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ANC\u2013International strongly condemns the destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral (Surb Astvatsatsin) in occupied Stepanakert by Azerbaijani authorities. Occurring on the eve of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, this act marks a serious escalation in the systematic erasure of Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage in Artsakh. Consecrated in 2019, the cathedral [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24356,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[133,480],"class_list":["post-24354","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-anc-international","tag-480"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Statement by ANC\u2013International Destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert - Armenian National Committee - International\u2014 \u0540\u0561\u0575 \u0534\u0561\u057f\u056b \u053f\u0565\u0576\u057f\u0580\u0578\u0576\u0561\u056f\u0561\u0576 \u053d\u0578\u0580\u0570\u0578\u0582\u0580\u0564<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=24354\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Statement by ANC\u2013International Destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert - Armenian National Committee - International\u2014 \u0540\u0561\u0575 \u0534\u0561\u057f\u056b \u053f\u0565\u0576\u057f\u0580\u0578\u0576\u0561\u056f\u0561\u0576 \u053d\u0578\u0580\u0570\u0578\u0582\u0580\u0564\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ANC\u2013International strongly condemns the destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral (Surb Astvatsatsin) in occupied Stepanakert by Azerbaijani authorities. Occurring on the eve of the 111th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, this act marks a serious escalation in the systematic erasure of Armenian cultural and spiritual heritage in Artsakh. Consecrated in 2019, the cathedral [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/?p=24354\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Armenian National Committee - International\u2014 \u0540\u0561\u0575 \u0534\u0561\u057f\u056b \u053f\u0565\u0576\u057f\u0580\u0578\u0576\u0561\u056f\u0561\u0576 \u053d\u0578\u0580\u0570\u0578\u0582\u0580\u0564\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ArmenianNationalCommitteeInternational\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T07:23:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-23T07:27:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ancnews.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/pic_eng.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@anc_intl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@anc_intl\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ancnews.info\\\/?p=24354#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ancnews.info\\\/?p=24354\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ancnews.info\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c14ef278e0df508260e67353fe1b7aa0\"},\"headline\":\"Statement by ANC\u2013International Destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-23T07:23:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-23T07:27:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ancnews.info\\\/?p=24354\"},\"wordCount\":253,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ancnews.info\\\/?p=24354#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ancnews.info\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/pic_eng.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"ANC International\",\"\u0540\u0561\u0575 \u0534\u0561\u057f\u056b \u053f\u0565\u0564\u0580\u0578\u0576\u0561\u056f\u0561\u0576 \u0533\u0580\u0561\u057d\u0565\u0576\u0565\u0561\u056f\"],\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ancnews.info\\\/?p=24354\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ancnews.info\\\/?p=24354\",\"name\":\"Statement by ANC\u2013International Destruction of the Holy Mother of God Cathedral in Stepanakert - 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