Ex-Culture Minister of Artsakh: Azerbaijan`s destructive policies aim  to  discourage Artsakh people from returning

ArmInfo. Disregarding ownership rights and international courts obligations, Azerbaijan persistently pursues a policy of destroying the Motherland, hoping to deprive the  people of Artsakh  of the will to return. Sergey Shahverdyan, former  Minister of Culture of Artsakh, ,shared this viewpoint on his  Facebook page regarding the publication of a new satellite image of  the capital of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as of May 2025 by Google  Earth. 

According to Shahverdyan,  the photo shows that 8.7 hectares in 6  historical quarters, 5.7 hectares in the university quarter, 2.6  hectares in the quarters adjacent to the Ministry of Defense and 1.3  hectares on Artur Mkrtchyan Street have been destroyed.

"In total, residential and public buildings were destroyed on a  territory with a total area of at least 18.3 hectares. This included  40 multi-story apartment buildings, at least 100 private households,  dozens of shops, cafes and other public facilities. Not to mention  the demolition of the Parliament buildings and the Armenia Hotel on  Renaissance Square, replaced by  a congress center  that marred the  architectural ensemble of the central square of Stepanakert," the  ex-minister noted. However, despite this, he expressed his conviction  that the people of Artsakh will return and rebuild their homeland,  despite the scale of destruction caused by the occupation government  of Azerbaijan in Stepanakert. "We will return Artsakh to Armenia and  rebuild our country, even if you completely destroy its capital, as  you did in 1990-1993," Shahverdyan concluded.