The Future Of Armenian Monuments Under Azerbaijani Control

One year on from the start of the devastating Second Karabakh/Artsakh War, AI marks the occasion by focusing on the situation of historic Armenian monuments and heritage now under the control of the Azerbaijani state. We’re joined by Simon Maghakyan, a Denver-based political scientist, human rights advocate, and investigative researcher, who carried out a decade-long investigation into the covert erasure of medieval Armenian sites in Nakhichevan. Drawing on this experience, Maghakyan will discuss and analyze the politics of cultural erasure in post-war Nagorno-Karabakh and the wider region.

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Speaker Bio:

Simon Maghakyan is a Denver-based political scientist, human rights advocate, and investigative researcher. Maghakyan’s advocacy and public service tenure includes serving as Amnesty International USA’s primary specialist and campaigner for the ex-USSR, leading the Armenian National Committee of America’s community development in 18 Western Region states, managing civics education at Colorado’s legislature, and coordinating Save Armenian Monuments. His academic experience includes lecturing in international relations at the University of Colorado Denver and serving, in a newly-appointed capacity, as visiting scholar at Tufts University. Maghakyan is a PhD student in International Heritage Crime at Cranfield University. Since December 2005, when Azerbaijan’s army eradicated the world’s largest medieval Armenian cemetery at Djulfa, Maghakyan has been investigating and building awareness about cultural erasure. This work has resulted in numerous groundbreaking publications and collaborative initiatives, including the online project http://Djulfa.com; the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s pioneer satellite investigation into cultural destruction; the Colorado State Capitol replica Djulfa khachkar memorial; the widely-cited 2019 Hyperallergic exposé of Azerbaijan's covert erasure of over 28,000 medieval Armenian monuments in Nakhichevan; and the 2021 Art Newspaper investigation geolocating in declassified Cold War spy satellite imagery the now-destroyed churches of Agulis.

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The event will take place on Zoom and will also be live-streamed on Facebook.

JOIN US HERE

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85364748225?pwd=NjFtZkJEbmtVWjd5cVZleEFreGZqUT09

There is also limited space to attend in person at the Armenian Institute’s premises in London, if you are interested please contact the AI programme manager at nik@armenianinstitute.org.uk.