Azerbaijan says it will preserve Christian heritage amid peace-process tensions with Armenia

A senior Azerbaijani presidential aide has said the country will preserve Christian heritage on its sovereign territory, while warning that forces in Armenia and the Armenian diaspora are trying to undermine the peace process. Hikmet Hajiyev made the remarks during a panel at the Arab Media Summit in Dubai on Wednesday. He said Azerbaijan sees the issue as part of its own history and cultural heritage after the Karabakh conflict.

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Hajiyev, who is Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan and head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration, told Euronews that revanchist forces in Armenia remain strong. He said the Armenian government and leadership should prepare their people for peace. He also said Azerbaijan had won the war and was now trying to win peace, which he described as an uphill struggle.

The aide linked the comments to the years of conflict in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, saying mosques and Islamic cultural heritage there were destroyed during the period of occupation. He said Azerbaijan does not view the issue as revenge, but as a matter of history and memory. He also said the country is home to Islam, Christianity and Judaism, with mosques, churches and synagogues existing side by side.

The remarks matter because cultural heritage remains one of the most sensitive issues in the wider Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute. Religious and historical sites have long been tied to competing narratives over identity, sovereignty and the legacy of the Karabakh conflict. Hajiyev's comments suggest Baku wants to present itself as a protector of Christian sites while continuing to reject accusations over the treatment of churches in areas it regained control of.

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He also placed Azerbaijan's position in a broader historical frame, saying the country is among the first places associated with Zoroastrianism and Christianity, and later adopted Islam. He referred to the ancient Kingdom of Caucasian Albania, which existed in parts of what is now Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan, as part of that history. Armenian church authorities have disputed Azerbaijan's record on religious sites and have accused Baku of demolishing churches in Karabakh, allegations Azerbaijan rejects.

What remains unclear is how far these statements will affect the wider peace process, which has been marked by mutual distrust and competing claims over heritage sites. The comments also do not resolve the dispute over the condition of churches and mosques in former conflict areas. For now, the key question is whether political messaging on cultural preservation will translate into practical steps on the ground and into progress in talks between the two sides.

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