The Saint Hovhannes Mkrtich (St. John the Baptist) Armenian church, also known as Kanach Zham/Green Church, in Shushi has been completely destroyed by the Azerbaijanis, Artsakh’s State Service for the Protection of Historical Environment sounded the alarm on Facebook on Monday.

Now it is being converted into an Orthodox church under the name of renovation, it said.

Among the monuments of Shushi, the church of St. John the Baptist in the Upper District is of particular interest. It is called "Green Church" because the dome of the church used to be green.

There is an inscription on the year of construction above the entrance to the bell tower of the church, which says: "Babayan Stepanos Hovhannes. In memory of his deceased brother Mkrtich, 1847." 

“Recently, a social media user, Elnur Allahverdiev, returned to the thankless work of Russification of the Green Church. It should be noted that the rush of Russification of the church is not a new phenomenon for Azerbaijan. At one time, Fuad Akhundov unjustifiably considered the church Russian Orthodox. In the mid-1960s, a decision was made in Baku to expand the Armenian part of the city in order to expand the “living space” for Azerbaijani settlers, and, obviously, to remove the Armenian traces of Shushi. During this time, three surviving Armenian churches and one Russian church were destroyed, as well as several Armenian cemeteries with beautiful khachkars and monuments. The Green Church, which Fuad Akhundov considers "Russian Orthodox" without reason, has turned into a gallery,” the service said.