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Azerbaijan is turning the Armenian Church of Holy Resurrection (Surb Hambardzum Church) in the Artsakh town of Berdzor (Lachin) into a mosque, Artsakh’s State Service for the Protection of the Historic Environment warned on Friday.

Photos posted on social media show the cross has been removed from the church dome.

The Artsakh authorities condemned the move as "expropriation of history, destruction of cultural identity, religious intolerance and falsification."

The church is located on the rocky slope of the Hakari River's left bank, 150 meters above the river and 960 meters above sea level, on Berdzor's southwestern outskirts.

Aleksan Hakobyan, the first head of the Kashatagh district administration, initiated the establishment of the Surb Hambardzum Church in Berdzor. Construction was completed in 1998, and the dome cross was consecrated on May 31, 1998. Hrachya Gasparyan is the church's architect. Georgi Arakelyan oversaw the construction. The church's artistic decoration was created by sculptor Artashes Hovsepyan, painter Karo Mkrtchyan, woodworker Vano Dadoyan, and others.

The church was in good condition before it fell under Azerbaijan’s control on August 25, 2022.