News and Information > CHW has concluded a year-long investigation into the Armenian churches and cemeteries of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan.

CHW has concluded a year-long investigation into the Armenian churches and cemeteries of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan.

CHW has concluded a year-long investigation into the Armenian churches and cemeteries of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. The results, based on unprecedented site-by-site analysis, reveal a plan of state-sponsored cultural erasure with few parallels. See our interactive web platform: https://bit.ly/3qoXJBd
Our investigation sought to assess a complete inventory of Armenian cultural heritage sites in Nakhchivan. Some sites were impossible to locate or evaluate, but of the 110 monasteries, churches, and cemeteries that could be analyzed 98% were totally eradicated by 2011.
The destruction was striking in its breadth and completeness. Whether structures were in populated regions or remote areas, whether they were small or large, structurally sound or half-ruined by neglect, they were demolished.
Previous reports have revealed key aspects of this policy, and have sought to infer its scope. Hyperallergic's 2019 report by Simon Maghakyan and Sarah Pickman included eye-witness accounts of the state-guided destruction. https://tinyurl.com/3tszwvr3
CHW's assessment is the first systematic survey of this policy. For each of the destroyed 108 monasteries, churches, and cemeteries, we have compiled online, interactive ArcGIS StoryMaps that include historical information and proof of destruction. https://bit.ly/3qoXJBd
CHW's findings can also be accessed as a PDF report, titled, "Silent Erasure." The full version (29 MB) contains an inventory of every site. It is here: https://adobe.ly/3xeeKlf . An abridged version (2.2MB) can be found here: https://adobe.ly/3DlUkdQ .