After the 44-day war of 2020 and the full occupation of Artsakh in 2023, official Azerbaijan embarked on a complete change of the historical, cultural, and ethno-religious character of Artsakh. This policy began back in the Soviet years when the entire Christian heritage of Artsakh was declared Albanian, and starting from the 2000s, this heritage was attributed to the Udi community of Azerbaijan. Since 2020, regular visits of representatives of the Udi community to the sanctuaries of occupied Artsakh have been organized. These visits were widely covered by the media. The reason for such a policy was to find a new heir for the obvious Christian historical and cultural heritage of the region and to show it to the world (see more details: https://monumentwatch.org/en/alerts/udi-propaganda-as-an-expression-of-azerbaijani-politics/).

The second tool for changing the historical and cultural image of Armenian Artsakh became the overemphasis, exaggeration, and promotion of the Islamic cultural heritage in the historical Artsakh territory as an important factor in the establishment of "Azerbaijani history, culture, and art." Moreover, along this path, late medieval Islamic tombs, Persian and Arabic Muslim spiritual and cultural figures, philosophers, and poets who worked in the region were declared Azerbaijani. This involved the direct distortion of the region's historical and cultural realities and the blatant neglect of various historical sources, interpreting them according to their propaganda.

The Azerbaijani propaganda machine started to argue that the territory is Islamic and therefore Azerbaijani. This propaganda was evident even in Soviet times, when the various Muslim principalities created after the 7th century in Transcaucasia were portrayed as part of the Azerbaijani state. As a result, the various Muslim authorities established in the territory of modern Azerbaijan began to be considered Azerbaijani. The Seljuk dynasty, particularly the Eldeguzid dynasty, began to be seen as Azerbaijani. After acquiring control over Armenian and Georgian territories, Muslim authorities sought to include Armenian lands in the "Azerbaijani state." Azerbaijani historian Zia Buniatov played a significant role in promoting this idea through his numerous works, such as "State of Atabeks of Azerbaijan." His work emphasizes the "Islamization" of the history and culture of Artsakh, focusing on Panah Khan and the establishment of the Karabakh Khanate as an Azerbaijani political and cultural entity in Artsakh. The Azerbaijani propaganda machine actively began to emphasize the role and significance of the Karabakh Khanate after the 2020 war, presenting the Khanate and its founder, Panah Khan, as foundational figures of the Azerbaijani state. The propaganda highlighting the importance of the Karabakh Khanate was particularly prominent, with the return of Aghdam and Shahbulagh being interpreted as a return to the roots of the Azerbaijani state (https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=l7GnCJfTkIw). This is demonstrated quite well by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, who, in his thesis that the region is Azerbaijani, assigns primary significance to the mansion in Aghdam attributed to Panah Khan, the tombs of Karabakh khans and their descendants, and Shahbulagh as important sites for the formation of the Azerbaijani state. Notably, during visits of delegations to occupied Artsakh, they are taken not only to Shushi but also to Aghdam and Shahbulagh. A recent example of this was the visit of the President of Kyrgyzstan, who was accompanied by Aliyev to Shahbulagh and Aghdam (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnvCf2sNVOk).

An important role is assigned to the city of Shushi in the Islamization of Artsakh. Shushi is portrayed as the primary cultural and political center of Azerbaijan, hailed as the foremost hub of Azerbaijani mosque construction. Following the events of 2020, Azerbaijani authorities nearly completed the policy of Azeriization and Islamization of Shushi, effectively erasing the Armenian identity of the city and declaring it as the spiritual and cultural epicenter of the Muslim world(https://monumentwatch.org/hy/alerts/շուշին-որպես-մահմեդական-աշխարհի-մշակ/, https://monumentwatch.org/en/alerts/shushi-named-cultural-capital-of-the-islamic-world-for-2024/, https://monumentwatch.org/en/alerts/shushi-named-cultural-capital-of-the-islamic-world-for-2024/, https://monumentwatch.org/en/alerts/azerbaijan-is-stripping-shushis-cultural-heritage-of-its-armenian-origin/).

An important aspect of the Islamization of Artsakh revolves around the issue of the number of mosques in the territory, which has become a subject of unfounded speculation by Azerbaijan. Despite this, there is a noticeable trend to exaggerate their numbers, even though 70 percent of Azerbaijani villages in Artsakh, presented as Islamic, were constructed during the Soviet era. During this period, Soviet authorities compelled the nomadic population in the region to settle down. For instance, villages like Zangelan, Kubatlu, Jebraili, and Fizuli were established in the 1940s and 1950s to cultivate and irrigate the steppe lands of Aghdam.

After 2020, a new trend of Islamization of the historical, cultural environment, and natural landscape of Artsakh has emerged, directly ordered by the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. This is evidenced by the construction of new mosques in occupied Artsakh (see details: https://monumentwatch.org/en/alerts/foundation-of-new-mosques-in-the-armenian-settlements-of-artsakh/).

Thus, new mosques are being constructed in Shushi, Hadrut, Karintak, Mataghis, Berdzor, and Zangelan.

These mosques are funded by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the foundation of the mosques is being laid personally by President Aliyev and his wife (https://heydar-aliyev-foundation.org/ru/content/blog/92/%D0%9A%D1%83%D0%BB%D1%8C%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80%D0%B0?page=2). In videos showcasing the construction and restoration of mosques, Aliyev is portrayed as a patron, advocate, and devout follower of Islamic culture. He and his wife are depicted donating Qur'ans and participating in prayers at each location (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdXZIpmmjd4). In some videos, family members, including his sons and daughters, are also featured. The Azerbaijani and Turkish propaganda machine portrays Ilham Aliyev as a figure who liberates and restores Islamic lands. A notable example is the presentation of symbolic weapons - an axe and a sword - by Turkish delegations to Ilham Aliyev (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/JFUZR0BYz8I).

In Hadrut, Mataghis, and Karintak, areas historically devoid of a Muslim population, mosques are being constructed on elevated terrain, symbolizing a clear trend of cultural, ethnic, and religious transformation in these regions. It's worth noting that one of the newly constructed mosques is situated in Hadrut in the south of Artsakh, another in Mataghis in the north, and one more in Karintak in the central part. Additionally, a new mosque is under construction in Berdzor, formerly known as Lachin, which developed into a sizable settlement during the Soviet era, yet lacked significant religious infrastructure in the Lachin region.

Mosques are not being built or repaired in the cities of Fizuli, Jebrail, and Aghali village, which are actively being rebuilt and resettled. Instead, construction is taking place in Hadrut and Karintak, which still lack Azerbaijani settlers, and in Mataghis, which is only recently being resettled. Additionally, a new and large mosque was opened in Zangelan, which has not yet been resettled.

Another puzzling fact is the lack of restoration or repair work in rural mosques in the Fizuli, Jebrayil, Zangelan, Kubatlu, and Aghdam regions, as clearly visible in many photos and videos. It appears that the Azerbaijani side is focusing on renovating only the Shushi mosques and the Aghdam mosque, with no restoration efforts being undertaken on the remaining structures.

The Azerbaijani side openly acknowledges that specialists invited from Turkey are actively involved in the reconstruction of mosques and the construction of new ones.

The Armenian dispossession of Artsakh did not bring "peace" to the tyrant. He remains troubled by history and its thousands of Armenian historical and cultural manifestations. Consequently, these can be mutilated, rewritten, or destroyed, and the Armenian territory can be "rehistoricized" through selective mosque construction.