Azerbaijanis have completely destroyed the St. John the Baptist Church in Shushi, commonly known as the “Kanach Zham” church.
The Caucasus Heritage Watch, which has been tracking Azerbaijan’s destruction of Armenian religious and cultural monuments, reported on its social media page that between December 28 of last year and April 4, the 177-year-old landmark in occupied Shushi was systematically destroyed.
The CHW called the destruction “Azerbaijan’s most egregious violation yet of a December 2021 ICJ order.”
As part of a far-reaching ruling, the International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021 ordered that Azerbaijan, in accordance with its obligations under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, must “take all necessary measures to prevent and punish acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artifact.”
Built by Armenians in 1847, the church, also known as “Kanach Zham” (Green Chapel), was damaged during the 2020 war. In the aftermath of the war, the Baku diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church laid claim to the building and pledged restoration. Nevertheless, the church is now gone.
At the entrance to the belfry, building inscriptions in Armenian read: “St. Hovhannes Mkrtich Church was built by Shusha townsman baron Hovhannes and Baba Stepanyan Hovnanents in memory of their deceased brother Mkrtich in the year of 1847.”
