From what is published in the Azerbaijani social media segment, it becomes clear that the Surb Harutyun (Holy Resurrection) Armenian church built in 1621 in Hadrut, in Azerbaijani-occupied Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), has been desecrated, public figure Alen Ghulyan wrote on Facebook, and posted a respective video.
“The video clearly shows that the walls of the temple are covered with inscriptions and distorted, and the cross on the dome has been destroyed. Moreover, the cross was demolished after 2022. In the footage from the period when, after the occupation of Hadrut, the Azerbaijani regime declared the temple as allegedly ‘[Caucasian] Albanian’ and sent representatives of the so-called ‘[Caucasian] Albanian-Utian Christian community’ there to conduct demonstrative pseudo-religious rituals, the cross was still on the dome.
Since the published video does not contain footage shot in the church yard, it is not possible to determine the condition of the ancient tombstones located just a few meters from the entrance to the temple.
Let me remind that in December 2023, the Azerbaijani regime announced plans to [Caucasian] Albanianize the Surb Harutyun Armenian church, as well as announced the conduct of archaeological excavations there and the creation of some kind of museum of ‘[Caucasian] Albanian’ culture,” Ghulyan added.