We regretfully have to await Azerbaijani authorities' permission to visit Dadivank, says local priest

Visits to Dadivank, a historical Armenian religious religious monument on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), will from now on be permissible for Armenian pilgrims only on condition that they present identity details upon entry.

A former priest of the monastery, Rev. Fr. Hovhannes Hovhannisyan, says he regrets that ethnic Armenian visitors have to obey the Azerbaijani authorities’ whims now that part of the Martakert region (where the religious monument is situated) has passed under that country’s control.

In comments to Tert.am, he warned of the possible security threats to ethnic Armenians. “They [the Azerbaijani authorities] are required to check the identity of those citizens’ identity, their family members, and fathers to know where they fought [during the recent war] or what title or orders they hold. They will permit [the visits] only after accessing all the records to later hold those people and state that they have ‘arrested a terrorist’. This is the whole problem, of which our top government figures do not seem to have any understanding,” he said, adding that the monastery does not presently have a permanent priest.

After the signing of the November 9 ceasefire that ended the fighting in the conflict zone, Armenians can visit Dadivank only on Sundays accompanied by Russian peacekeeping troops. Subject to the new procedures, however, a special list containing the pilgrims’ identity records has to be submitted to Azerbaijan. Bishop Vrtanes Abrahamyan, the primate of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC), had earlier voiced his concern over the issue after the Azerbaijani authorities banned several pilgrims’ entry into the church, citing the mandatory order.