Another manifestation of Azerbaijani religious and national “tolerance” in the churches of Tsakuri and Togh

On April 14, 2022, a few days before the Resurrection Sunday (Holy Easter), the State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations of Azerbaijan organized a visit of religious representatives of Christian religious communities and various Christian organizations to the Churches of Surb Astvatsatsin in Tsakuri village and Surb Hovhannes in Togh village of Hadrut region occupied by Azerbaijan. The visit was widely covered by various Azerbaijani media.

According to the video reports about the visit, after the liberation of Karabakh from the Armenian occupation, representatives of the Christian community have the opportunity to visit churches and pray there. Elchin Pashayev, the pastor of Word of Life religious organization, said in an interview that the visit was initiated by them, and by representatives of other Christian organizations. In the context of this visit, the official Azerbaijani propaganda stated that the churches of Surb Astvatsatsin in Tsakuri and Surb Hovhannes in Togh are Albanian.

The Armenian churches were also visited by the "Biblical Society of Azerbaijan", "Evangelical Christian Baptists", "Evangelical Lutherans of Salvation", "Seventh-Day Adventists", "Prefecture of the Catholic Church in the Republic of Azerbaijan", "Russian Orthodox Church of Azerbaijan", "Albanian-Udian Church" and others, as well as representatives of Muslim religious organizations.

Even more bewildering are the words of the official representative of the Russian Orthodox Church about religious and national tolerance in the occupied Hadrut region. Here, on the territory completely free of Armenians as a result of the war provoked by Azerbaijan, here, where the Christian monuments are under permanent threat of destruction, change, falsification of national and religious facts, concealment of evidence, and distortion of reality through various artificial shows (Mobili “the inventor” decided to declare the Armenian cross compositions of the 17-19th centuries of occupied Hadrut Albanian – Monument Watch).

Representatives of various unknown and incomprehensible religious organizations speak about religious and national tolerance. Tolerance is spoken about in a country that has destroyed, defiled, and modified hundreds of Armenian churches, chapels, monasteries, crosses, and khachkars due to its state policy. Religious and national tolerance is discussed by a country whose soldiers during the 2020 war cynically shared various videos about how Armenian khachkars and crosses are being broken, desecrated, and Muslim prayers are pronounced in Armenian churches (Azerbaijani soldiers pronounce a Muslim prayer at Surb Astvatsatsin church of the occupied village of Jraghatsner – Monument Watch, Destruction of a khachkar in Arakel village of Hadrut region – Monument Watch, The enemy desecrated Kusanats Anapat monastery in Avetaranots village of Askeran region – Monument Watch).

The country that twice deliberately shelled the Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi and is currently trying to modify it under the guise of "restoration" speaks of religious tolerance. The country whose soldiers blew up the Kanach Zham Church in Shushi and which is also trying to change it under the guise of "restoration", speaks of tolerance.