Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of looting historic Davidank monastery in Nagorno-Karabakh

Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage agency, led by Sabina Hajiyeva, has charged that Armenian forces looted the Davidank monastery—known as Khudavang in Azerbaijani—by taking crosses, bells and frescoes when they withdrew from the Kalbajar region after the 2020 conflict. Hajiyeva claims the stolen frescoes were later displayed abroad as Armenian artworks and that the claim was filed with Interpol’s Stolen Works of Art Database in October 2025.

The allegation comes amid renewed debate over the monastery’s origins, with Azerbaijan promoting a narrative that such sites belong to the extinct Caucasian Albanian Christian tradition, a stance dismissed by Armenian officials and scholars. Azerbaijani presidential aide Hikmet Hajiyev recently showed foreign diplomats the Gandzasar and Dadivank monasteries, framing them as Caucasian Albanian heritage, prompting criticism from Armenia’s foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan and the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Civil-society groups warned that the heritage dispute could deepen mistrust between the two societies. Meanwhile, the Udi community and the Western Azerbaijan Community have issued statements supporting Azerbaijan’s claim to the monuments.