The incoming Biden administration must adopt a multi-pronged strategy to prevent the destruction of Armenian monuments.

By Lori Khatchadourian and Adam Smith

In late September, a brutal war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the mountainous enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh — adding another tragic chapter to one of the longest-running conflicts in the world. Cities and villages were routinely shelled, killing scores of civilians, until last month when a ceasefire agreement brought the fighting to a halt. A period of violent devastation is over. But as the parties strive to achieve an elusive, lasting peace, the region’s irreplaceable cultural monuments are in peril. Washington must act. There are steps that the U.S. can take right now to help prevent a heritage calamity.

The terms of the ceasefire were shaped by the results of the latest round of fighting. Azerbaijani forces regained control of seven territories surrounding Nagorno-Karabakh that had been occupied by Armenian forces for nearly three decades, following victories they secured in the nineties. Armenians have now evacuated these regions, but they left behind over 1500 Christian monuments, including active monasteries and rare treasures of medieval church architecture.

As archaeologists who have worked in the region for decades, we are concerned by what this change of borders may portend. Nagorno-Karabakh’s deep history has been fought over as bitterly as its present status and there is justifiable fear that the conflict’s violence will be transferred from the battlefield to the region’s cultural heritage.

Armenian monuments in the territories that have fallen under Azerbaijani control face the real threat of secretive, state-sponsored demolition. Between 1997 and 2006, Azerbaijan sought to fully erase the traces of Armenians in its southwestern Nakhchivan region, destroying 89 medieval churches, 5840 sacred cross-stones, or khachkars, and 22,000 historical tombstones. Even though this destruction has been documented with satellite and photographic evidence, Azerbaijan has denied it, and has barred international teams from inspecting the sites.

A more subtle tactic of heritage erasure is the falsification of the past. One day after the ceasefire went into effect, Azerbaijan’s Minister of Culture tweeted that a 9th-13th century Armenian monastery called Dadivank, whose long-term jurisdiction is uncertain, was “one of the best testimonies of ancient Caucasian Albanian civilization,” despite the many Armenian inscriptions that adorn its walls. The site was not created by “Caucasian Albania,” a kingdom that fell in roughly the 8th century. Azerbaijani historians have repeatedly drawn questionable linkages between Caucasian Albania and Turkic Azerbaijan in an attempt to establish indigeneity and develop a counter history to the long occupation of Armenians in the region. A few modifications to these churches and monasteries — an erased Armenian inscription here or there — and “Caucasian Albania” will have a new site added to its inventory. Heritage appropriation is just as toxic to our understanding of the human past as its silent demolition. Appropriated sites linger as heritage zombies, neither fully extinguished nor truly alive.

America remained disengaged during the fighting, and Washington was entirely cut out of the ceasefire negotiations in which Russia played the leading role. But the current fate of these monuments poses a test case for President-elect Joseph Biden, who has outlined a policy of global engagement, in stark contrast to President Trump. In 2017, Trump withdrew America from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) — the only multinational state-led agency whose mission includes the protection of heritage. Later, he went further in his disregard for global heritage, famously threatening to bomb Iranian cultural sites.

We believe that the Biden administration can pursue three strategies to begin restoring America’s role as a global leader in the protection of cultural heritage, beginning with the lands under contention in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.

First, America must engage in bilateral diplomacy with Azerbaijan, to clearly communicate that the destruction of Armenian monuments will not be tolerated. It must be made clear that attacks on heritage sites will result in a consequential U.S. response. This would fit with policy objectives that Biden has previously discussed, including his interest in promoting democracy and eradicating corruption in authoritarian countries like Azerbaijan.

Second, Biden must swiftly re-engage America with UNESCO. To be sure, the organization is not a panacea. Its World Heritage Committee is often overseen by the very states that it needs to hold accountable. The organization’s responses are also often marred by political deal-making. But for all its flaws, it has a role to play in protecting imperiled sites. By rejoining, the United States can help shape UNESCO’s priorities in Nagorno-Karabakh and elsewhere. This may also be an area of potential cooperation with Russia. In recent weeks, the Kremlin has recognized the threats to Armenian heritage in the region and has called on UNESCO to intervene. As a party to UNESCO, the U.S. should offer assistance in the training of Russian peacekeepers for cultural heritage protection.

Lastly, the Biden administration needs to help stand up a program of heritage monitoring similar to the Syrian Cultural Heritage Initiative, developed in 2014. That effort focused on tracking physical damage caused by both state actors and looting during wartime. In the case of Nagorno-Karabakh, there is the opportunity to not just document heritage destruction but possibly deter it through regular, highly visible long-term surveillance efforts. We urge the State Department to grant American archaeologists who specialize in this region access to high-resolution satellite imagery. This will allow us to mount the first program of long-term, systematic satellite-based monitoring during peacetime in a region of intense cultural discord. Such work could create a template for heritage protection in other ceasefire agreements around the globe where cultural heritage is imperiled. Protecting cultural heritage sites will be vital to building the kind of trust that will be central to any long-term peace in the region.

On October 13, 2020, as the fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh raged, Biden released a strongly-worded statement bemoaning America’s lack of engagement, and calling on the Trump Administration to “tell Azerbaijan that it will not tolerate its efforts to impose a military solution to this conflict.” This January, Biden will be in the White House. Protecting these monuments — objects of historical importance and deep cultural and emotional attachment — may help strengthen the fragile, uncertain pathway to peace.