Artsakh Ombudsman Gegham Stepanyan has written to Google urging the American multinational technology company not to give in to Azerbaijani demands to remove Armenian place names from its digital maps of Artsakh.

Stepanyan, in his letter, says that Azerbaijani seeks to erase any trace of Armenians and the Armenian culture from territory now under Azerbaijani control following the 2020 war.

“Armenian toponyms of Artsakh are memories of place, as well as living memories of the people who gave those names to those places. Toponyms serve as symbols of regional culture, thus reflecting the history and environment of the place,” Stepanyan wrote to Google.

Stepanyan argues that the removal of Armenian placenames will only encourage Azerbaijan's gross violations of the rights of the people of Artsakh and will contribute to the legalization of the results of the illegal use of force.