Mother See Condemns Anti-Armenian Event Organized by Azerbaijan in Rome

ETCHMIADZIN — The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has condemned the anti-Armenian event organized by Azerbaijan in Rome on April 10, expressing regret that such a historically and academically misleading gathering was allowed to take place within the premises of a Catholic higher education institution.

“On April 10, at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, an event titled ‘Christianity in Azerbaijan: History and Present Times’ was held, organized by the Embassy of Azerbaijan to the Holy See and several Azerbaijani organizations, with the participation of representatives from various countries.

During the event, driven by Azerbaijan’s propaganda machine, another attempt was made to deny the Armenian origin of the historical and cultural heritage of Armenia and Artsakh, and to distort historical facts with the malicious intention of appropriation.

This is happening while the international community has yet to properly address the genocidal actions carried out by Azerbaijan, the violation of the fundamental rights of the forcibly displaced Armenian population from Artsakh, the illegal and degrading treatment of Armenian prisoners of war held in Baku, and the systematic destruction and appropriation of Artsakh’s spiritual and cultural heritage.

We deeply regret that a Catholic higher education institution permitted the organization of such a pseudo-scientific event,” read the statement released by the Inter-Church Relations Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, as reported by Armenpress.

The statement also emphasized that, in light of the above, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin will initiate appropriate steps within the framework of inter-church communication.

Earlier, the Artsakh Cultural Heritage Monitoring team had issued a warning regarding the international conference titled ‘Christianity in Azerbaijan: History and Modernity’ taking place at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Vatican City, noting that, until that point, no Armenian studies organization had been informed about the event.

“Tens of scholars from various countries—including Turkey, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, South Korea, Russia, Poland, Italy, Georgia, Germany, France, Canada, the United States, and Lithuania—were gathered with the objective of excluding Armenian history, culture, and presence from Azerbaijani territory. As a result, monuments that are indisputably Armenian, marked with hundreds of Armenian inscriptions—such as Amaras, Gandzasar, Dadivank, and others—were falsely presented as Caucasian Albanian heritage.

It is also incomprehensible to us why several well-known scholars in the field chose to participate, despite recognizing that no Armenian researcher was present, nor was there a single mention of Armenians,” the Artsakh Cultural Heritage Monitoring team stated in its announcement.