Photo via Euronews

Azerbaijan insists it will preserve Christian heritage as part of its history

Read the original at Euronews ↗
Cite

Witherspoon, J., & Gregory, T. (2026, September 16). Azerbaijan insists it will preserve Christian heritage as part of its history. Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/2026/09/16/azerbaijan-insists-it-will-preserve-christian-heritage-as-part-of-its-history

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Euronews · collected 2026-09-16 · by Jane Witherspoon, Toby Gregory

Quick Summary

Azerbaijan’s presidential advisor Hikmet Hajiyev emphasized his country’s commitment to preserving Christian heritage during a panel discussion at the Arab Media Summit in Dubai on Wednesday. He stated that despite ongoing challenges with Armenia, Azerbaijan is dedicated to maintaining historical religious sites and fostering cultural coexistence. Hajiyev highlighted the presence of mosques, churches, and synagogues within Azerbaijan’s borders as evidence of its commitment to preserving diverse religious heritage.
Written by AI on 2026-09-17, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In a wide-ranging panel at the Arab Media Summit in Dubai on Wednesday, Assistant to the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev told Euronews that peace with Armenia is "an uphill struggle," but Azerbaijan remains committed to preserving Christian heritage on its territory as part of its history. Hajiyev warned that revanchist forces within Armenia and the Armenian diaspora are still strong and seek to undermine the historic peace process between the former rivals. He emphasized that while Azerbaijan won the war, it is now focused on achieving peace, which he described as a challenging endeavor. Azerbaijan has faced significant damage to its Islamic cultural heritage during years of occupation in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur by Armenia, including the destruction of mosques and desecration of religious sites. Hajiyev noted that despite these past actions, Azerbaijan is preserving Christian heritage on its territory, viewing it as integral to their history and identity.

Written for “Azerbaijan Christian Heritage Preserv…” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Azerbaijan Christian Heritage Preserv…
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 19% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Washington Examiner
⚖️ Leans strongly left Hedges 4 of 60 claims Outlet record 70/100
“While both articles discuss Azerbaijan's stance on Christian heritage and relations with Armenia, they describe different aspects of the situation: Article A focuses on a panel discussion in Dubai about peace efforts and historical preservation, while Article B describes a specific incident at Gandzasar monastery involving Armenian refugees.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
19%
3 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
60/100
Euronews's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Euronews · 1131 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jane Witherspoon
8 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum also paid tribute, saying Sheikh Ahmed would remain in the family's hearts, memory and prayers.
🔮 Boulos declined to give a timeline, saying the moment would be Trump's to choose.
🔮 The diplomatic adviser to the UAE president told a session in Dubai that relations with Tehran must continue, but that confidence broken by the attacks on the Gulf will take years to restore.
🔮 No treaty sets out what a state may do when it is attacked through a network rather than by a weapon.
🔮 And we will be prepared," Al Marri said.
🔮 Hajiyev reiterated that Azerbaijan contributes to the EU’s energy security by supplying gas to 16 EU member countries and other European countries as well, and in that sense, the Middle Corridor connectivity project could bring Azerbaijan and the EU even closer.
🔮 "It looks like escalation is on the way” in the region gripped by the Iran war, and “with all the tensions, nobody can predict” what will happen, but the hope is that the situation “remains stable," Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Tuesday.
Also by Jane Witherspoon
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 8 articles by Jane Witherspoon →
Toby Gregory
5 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Crown Prince of Dubai and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum also paid tribute, saying Sheikh Ahmed would remain in the family's hearts, memory and prayers.
🔮 Boulos declined to give a timeline, saying the moment would be Trump's to choose.
🔮 The diplomatic adviser to the UAE president told a session in Dubai that relations with Tehran must continue, but that confidence broken by the attacks on the Gulf will take years to restore.
🔮 Hajiyev reiterated that Azerbaijan contributes to the EU’s energy security by supplying gas to 16 EU member countries and other European countries as well, and in that sense, the Middle Corridor connectivity project could bring Azerbaijan and the EU even closer.
🔮 "It looks like escalation is on the way” in the region gripped by the Iran war, and “with all the tensions, nobody can predict” what will happen, but the hope is that the situation “remains stable," Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Tuesday.
Also by Toby Gregory
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Armenia Armenian Azerbaijan Dubai Euronews Forum

Subjects

Azerbaijan GPE · 14× Hajiyev PERSON · 6× Armenian NORP · 4× Armenia GPE · 3× the European Parliament ORG · 3× Christian NORP · 2× Dubai GPE · 2× Euronews Forum ORG · 2× Hikmet Hajiyev PERSON · 2× Karabakh GPE · 2×

Narrative

In a wide-ranging panel at the Arab Media Summit in Dubai on Wednesday, Assistant of the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev told Euronews that “probably Armenian government and Armenian leadership should work to prepare their people for the peace as well.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-17
🔮 Hajiyev reiterated that Azerbaijan contributes to the EU’s energy security by supplying gas to 16 EU member countries and other European countries as well, and in that sense, the Middle Corridor connectivity project could bring Azerbaijan and the EU even closer.

Claims (16 extracted, 3 hedged)

In a Euronews Forum panel in Dubai, Azerbaijan’s presidential advisor Hikmet Hajiyev said peace with Armenia is “an uphill struggle,” but Azerbaijan is committed to preserving the Christian heritage on its territory as it is part of its history. asserted
it → say → history
Azerbaijan has warned that “revanchist forces” in Armenia and the Armenian diaspora “are still strong” and are trying to undermine the historic peace process between the former rivals. asserted
forces → warn → rivals
In a wide-ranging panel at the Arab Media Summit in Dubai on Wednesday, Assistant of the President of Azerbaijan Hikmet Hajiyev told Euronews that “probably Armenian government and Armenian leadership should work to prepare their people for the peace as well.” asserted
government → range → peace
“Now we won the war, but we are also winning in peace which is an uphill struggle,” said Hajiyev, who is also Head of the Foreign Policy Affairs Department of the Presidential Administration. asserted
who → win → Administration
“Throughout the years of occupation in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur, our mosques, our Islamic cultural heritage were a subject of complete destruction by Armenia — even the pigs were put inside of the mosques. asserted
pigs → put → mosques
" “We are not taking it as a sign of revenge, but it's our history and our heritage and we cannot forget that;" he added. asserted
he → take → that
The presidential advisor outlined that while his country is part of the broader Islamic civilisation, “currently, three religions — Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, with mosques, churches, and synagogues — are side by side” in Azerbaijan. asserted
religions → outline → Azerbaijan
Hajiyev further said Azerbaijan is dedicated to “preserving the Christian heritage on the sovereign territory of Azerbaijan, regardless of their belonging, and that is a full stop because it's our cultural heritage.” asserted
it → say → belonging
Speaking of Azerbaijan's history of cultural and religious coexistence, Hajiyev explained that he was "more than proud that my country is one of the first places of Zoroastrianism." asserted
country → speak → Zoroastrianism
"It’s also one of the first places of Christianity since the fourth century: Christianity was adopted by the (Caucasian) Kingdom of Albania as an official religion,” while Azerbaijan was "also one of the first countries that adopted Islam.” Caucasian Albania was an ancient kingdom in what is now Azerbaijan and parts of southern Dagestan, unrelated to the Western Balkan state of Albania — also once a kingdom — with which it shares only a name. Armenian church authorities have disputed Azerbaijan's record on religious sites, accusing Baku of demolishing churches in Karabakh, claims Azerbaijan rejects. 'EU should embrace the entire region' uncertain
EU → ’ → region
In the Euronews Forum panel at the Arab Media Summit, the top Azerbaijani official reiterated Baku’s firm position that even after securing peace, the South Caucasus country is still subject to “disinformation”. asserted
country → reiterate → disinformation
“One such institution is the European Parliament which is not part of the solution, it's part of the problem,” along with certain Western media outlets, Hajiyev said. asserted
Hajiyev → say → outlets
“The European Parliament is adopting resolutions and decisions, humiliating and also undermining the agenda of peace of our region," he added. " asserted
he → adopt → region
We are in the process of building regional peace, but the European Parliament is pursuing some completely different agenda." asserted
Parliament → build → agenda
Hajiyev pointed out the EU’s policy towards the South Caucasus “shouldn't be only a one-centric approach, it should embrace the entire region with balanced cooperation with the regional countries." Furthermore, the EU policy should be about “building the concept of the new partnership ... and not to build into dividing lines," according to him. uncertain
policy → point → him
Hajiyev reiterated that Azerbaijan contributes to the EU’s energy security by supplying gas to 16 EU member countries and other European countries as well, and in that sense, the Middle Corridor connectivity project could bring Azerbaijan and the EU even closer. uncertain
project → reiterate → Azerbaijan
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support