Sergey Shahverdyan: The phenomenon of albanization of the Surb Harutyun Church in Hadrut is not new

The former Artsakh Minister of Culture, Youth Affairs and Tourism, Sergey Shahverdyan, told Alpha News that the phenomenon of the albanization of the Surb Harutyun Church in Hadrut is not new.

“The phenomenon of the albanization of the Surb Harutyun Church of Hadrut is not new, because over the past three years, Azerbaijan has continuously organized the so-called visits of the Udi community, and they performed some rituals there. Also, at one time, footage was published showing some incomprehensible manipulations with tombstones.

Azerbaijan says that this church was built in the 12th century. Allegedly, after Armenians arrived here in the 18th century, it was used as an Armenian church, and it is necessary to carry out archaeological excavations and start the restoration,” Shahverdyan said.

Our interlocutor noted that there are many archival records, not only from Armenian but also from Russian sources, where it is stated that the Hadrut church is Armenian.

“It has been documented many times that there are no debates about the Surb Harutyun Church in Hadrut; there are archival records. The church we see today was built between 18th and 19th centuries.

We have the Tsaghkavank church, where the leader of Azerbaijan and his wife gave instructions to the observers to remove the Armenian inscriptions, commenting that these [inscriptions] were made later. The three churches in Togh village face the same situation,” Shahverdyan noted.