Azerbaijan says it will preserve Christian heritage amid Armenia peace tensions

Azerbaijani presidential adviser Hikmet Hajiyev said Baku remains committed to preserving Christian sites as part of the country’s history. Speaking to Euronews, he also warned that forces in Armenia and the diaspora could undermine the peace process and criticised European Parliament policies toward the South Caucasus.

Azerbaijan says it will preserve Christian heritage on its territory while warning that the peace process with Armenia remains difficult. Hikmet Hajiyev, assistant to President Ilham Aliyev and head of the Presidential Administration’s foreign policy department, made the comments during a Euronews Forum panel at the Arab Media Summit in Dubai.

Hajiyev said “revanchist forces” in Armenia and the Armenian diaspora remained strong and were seeking to undermine the historic peace process between the former rivals. He also said Armenia’s government should help prepare its population for peace, describing the process as an “uphill struggle” even though Azerbaijan had won the war.

The Azerbaijani official referred to the destruction of mosques and Islamic cultural heritage during what he described as Armenia’s occupation of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur. He said Azerbaijan did not view the issue as a matter of revenge, but as part of its history and heritage that could not be forgotten.

Hajiyev said Azerbaijan was home to Islam, Christianity and Judaism, with mosques, churches and synagogues existing side by side. He pledged that Azerbaijan was dedicated to preserving Christian heritage on its sovereign territory regardless of religious affiliation. He also highlighted the country’s links to Zoroastrianism and Christianity, saying the Caucasian Kingdom of Albania adopted Christianity as an official religion in the fourth century, before Azerbaijan later became one of the first countries to adopt Islam.

Armenian church authorities have disputed Azerbaijan’s record concerning religious sites, accusing Baku of demolishing churches in Karabakh. Azerbaijan rejects those claims. The source identifies Caucasian Albania as an ancient kingdom in present-day Azerbaijan and parts of southern Dagestan, distinct from the Balkan country of Albania.

Hajiyev also accused the European Parliament and some Western media outlets of spreading disinformation and undermining regional peace. He called for a balanced European Union policy toward the entire South Caucasus, rather than one focused on a single approach. He said Azerbaijan’s gas supplies to 16 EU member states and other European countries, together with the Middle Corridor connectivity project, could strengthen ties between Baku and the EU.