Azerbaijan Claims Indigenous Armenian Dadivank Monastery’s Artifacts Were Stolen, Reports Them to Interpol

Azerbaijan says cultural artifacts allegedly removed from the medieval Dadivank monastery and taken to Armenia have been listed in Interpol’s database of stolen art, opening a new front in a growing dispute over Armenian Christian heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Sabina Hajiyeva, head of Azerbaijan’s State Service for the Protection, Development and Restoration of Cultural Heritage, said information about frescoes and khachkars — Armenian carved cross-stones — was submitted to Interpol in October 2025 and added to its “Stolen Works of Art” database.

Hajiyeva alleged that crosses, bells and other objects were taken to Armenia as Armenian forces withdrew from the Karvachar region after the 2020 war. She also claimed that frescoes were removed from Dadivank’s walls and that some of the objects were later presented abroad as Armenian works of art.

The allegations come as Baku increasingly challenges the Armenian identity of Dadivank and Gandzasar, two medieval Armenian monasteries in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Azerbaijan describes the monasteries as part of the heritage of Caucasian Albania, an ancient kingdom in the South Caucasus. Armenian historians and church officials reject that narrative, pointing to Armenian inscriptions, manuscripts and other historical evidence connected to the sites.

The dispute drew renewed attention after Hikmet Hajiyev, an assistant to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, accompanied foreign diplomats accredited in Baku on visits to Gandzasar and Dadivank and presented the monasteries as Caucasian Albanian heritage.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan later told parliament that Armenia had already addressed the question of Gandzasar’s origins through the Matenadaran, Armenia’s institute and repository of ancient manuscripts. He called further efforts to prove the monastery’s Armenian identity to Azerbaijan “pointless.”

Matenadaran Director Ara Khzmalyan has said Armenian manuscripts provide clear evidence of Gandzasar’s Armenian origins. He also said original ancient manuscripts were not kept at the monastery in recent years. The manuscripts displayed there were copies, while the originals remain at the Matenadaran in Yerevan.

National Security Council Secretary Alen Simonyan said he had discussed the controversy with Hajiyev but stopped short of publicly challenging the Azerbaijani official, saying disputes of this kind should not interfere with the peace process.

Hajiyev has since repeated Azerbaijan’s position, saying during remarks in Dubai that Christian monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh belong to Caucasian Albanian heritage and had been altered over the years.

Baku is also questioning Armenian restoration work at Dadivank. Hajiyeva said projects funded by Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Church were carried out at the monastery between 1997 and 2011, with work on its frescoes beginning in 2014. She alleged that those efforts changed the historic appearance of the complex.

Armenian church officials and cultural heritage experts have raised their own concerns about the fate of Armenian monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh, particularly since the region’s Armenian population fled in September 2023. They have documented or reported damage and alterations to churches, cemeteries and other sites and have accused Azerbaijan of erasing Armenian inscriptions and recasting Armenian monuments as Caucasian Albanian.

The latest claims over Dadivank prompted reactions from both government and opposition lawmakers in Yerevan.

Eduard Aghajanyan of the ruling Civil Contract party said property belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church should have been brought to Armenia if doing so was possible.

“I believe that any property belonging to the Armenian Apostolic Church that could have been brought to Armenia should have been brought to Armenia,” Aghajanyan told Azatutyun. “It is our national heritage and it should be in Armenia.”

He also warned that such accusations could undermine the still-developing peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

“When we say that peace is only beginning to take shape and needs care, it needs care from both sides,” Aghajanyan said. “I hope our Azerbaijani partners understand the importance of this and will refrain as much as possible from actions and statements that escalate the situation and do not contribute to strengthening peace.”

Ishkhan Saghatelyan of the opposition Armenia Alliance accused Azerbaijan of trying to rewrite the history of Nagorno-Karabakh’s indigenous Armenian cultural heritage and portray Armenian monuments as Caucasian Albanian.

“This step once again confirms that, through his policies, Nikol Pashinyan is turning Armenia from a victim into an aggressor,” Saghatelyan said.

He argued that Azerbaijan’s campaign was intended to erase the Armenian presence in Nagorno-Karabakh and avoid responsibility for what happened there.

Strong Armenia also called for a more forceful response from Yerevan. Party representative Marianna Ghahramanyan said Armenia should raise the issue at the highest international levels, including at the United Nations, describing Azerbaijan’s actions as an attempt to appropriate Armenian cultural heritage and rewrite its origins.

The latest dispute comes as Armenia and Azerbaijan work to consolidate a peace process after decades of conflict, while competing narratives over Nagorno-Karabakh’s history and cultural heritage continue to divide the two countries.

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