Western Azerbaijan Community establishes group to study Albanian Christian heritage

The Western Azerbaijan Community has established a Working Group to study the Christian heritage of Caucasian Albania located in the territory of present-day Armenia, including the historical Zangezur and Daryalagez regions and the Lake Goycha basin.

According to the Community, the group was established to conduct scientific research into the history, architectural and epigraphic features, and affiliation of churches, chapels, khachkars and monasteries, based on archival documents and other primary sources.

The Community said that a view has become widespread in Azerbaijan’s academic circles that the documents of the Albanian Catholicosate from the 16th to 19th centuries were completely destroyed.

“Losses are undoubtedly present, but archives and manuscript collections in a number of countries preserve numerous documents relating both to the Albanian Catholicoses and to the religious and social history of the period, while some of these materials have already been published. These materials are scattered across various collections. Identifying them through systematic searches and compiling them into a unified academic database is the Working Group’s main mission. The Western Azerbaijan Community currently has hundreds of documents on this subject,” the statement said.

The Community noted that a visit by foreign diplomats to the Gandzasar Monastery complex in September demonstrated that cultural heritage had become part of the diplomatic agenda.

The Western Azerbaijan Community considers the multilayered religious and cultural heritage located in present-day Armenia, including medieval monuments associated with Caucasian Albania, to be part of its heritage as the descendants of Azerbaijanis who were deported from the region.

According to the Community, this position can be substantiated in the international academic community only through evidence based on sources and independently verifiable research.

The research will also contribute to documenting the historical and cultural foundations for the safe and dignified return of the deported population, the statement added.