MODERN ARMENIAN KHACHKAR CULTURE AND THE VANDALISM OF AZERBAIJAN

Abstract

The cross and the khachkar have been and remain one of the most important symbols of the Armenian identity, undergoing iconographic, thematic and content changes during their centuries-old existence. Azerbaijan's official policy, in the way of creating its own identity, which was carried out at the expense of the Armenian identity and against that identity, often resorted to the appropriation (Albanisation, Udiization) of the cross and the khachkar and finally its destruction. After the first Artsakh war, the khachkar, having undergone corresponding dimensional and iconographic changes, became the main symbol of the liberated territories, settlements and especially the borders.