Two major Christian sites in the nation of Azerbaijan have been destroyed amid conflicting land claims with Armenia.
Areportfrom Radio Free Europe said that satellite imagery on April 26 confirmed that the Holy Mother of God Cathedral no longer stands.
The church was the largest cathedral in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan.
Radio Free Europe added that the Church of St. Jacob has also been destroyed sometime in the past few weeks.
The Christian Postreportedthat construction on the Holy Mother of God Cathedral started in 2006 and lasted through 2019.
The Church of St. Jacob was completed in 2007, having been funded by an Armenian-American philanthropist in the honor of his deceased son.
A statement from the Caucasus Muslims Board, which is affiliated with the government of Azerbaijan, confirmed the demolitions.
It said the churches were built “illegally” while Armenia was purportedly occupying Azerbaijani territory.
The statement claimed the demolitions “cannot be distorted in any way as the destruction of religious or cultural heritage.”
However, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin — which leads the Armenian Apostolic Church — countered that the demolitions were the deliberate targeting of “Armenian Christian holy sites, seeking to erase the Armenian presence” in the region.
Source: VidNews » Feed
