Armenian Heritage of Nakhchivan

Historical Research

Silent Erasure:
Armenian Heritage in Nakhchivan

In a year-long forensic investigation, CHW used high resolution satellite imagery to document the fate of Armenian cultural heritage sites in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan (Arm. Nakhichevan). To summarize our main finding, CHW’s research shows the complete destruction of 108 medieval and early modern monasteries, churches, and cemeteries between 1997 and 2011. This figure represents 98 percent of the Armenian cultural heritage sites we were able to locate and asses for this investigation. These findings provide, for the first time, conclusive forensic evidence that silent and systematic cultural erasure has been a feature of Azerbaijan’s domestic ethnic policy.