Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that Armenian Churches in areas returned to Azerbaijan have been labelled as 'Caucasian Albanian'; what discussions they have with the government of Azerbaijan about such reports; and what discussions they have had with the government of Russia about ensuring that Armenian culture is protected in line with the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire agreement, made on 9 November 2020.

The UK Government has made no assessment of the mentioned reports. The Minister for the European Neighbourhood and the Americas has emphasised to both the Armenian and Azerbaijani Governments, most recently in December, the importance of protecting all cultural heritage sites. The UK Ambassador to Azerbaijan also raised this issue with representatives of the Azerbaijani Presidential Administration on 17 November. The protection of cultural heritage affected by conflict and the prevention of acts of destruction remains a priority for this Government. While we have not discussed this specific issue with the government of Russia, we continue to underline our support for the Co-Chairs of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk Group in reaching a lasting settlement to the conflict and for the important work of international organisations addressing the humanitarian situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas.