On February 24, 2006, a large group of Canadian-Armenians from Cambridge, Toronto, Montreal and Laval drove to join Ottawa Armenians to protest destruction of the Christian heritage - ancient Armenian cross-stones in Jolfa*, Nakhichevan region, by Azerbaijani regular army.
The carved cross-stones, some dating over 1000 years old, were made by Armenian Christians who were the original inhabitants of the Region.

The protestors began their day in front of UNESCO's Ottawa office building."They're trying to erase any trace of the Armenians who had lived in Nakhichevan for the past 4000 years," cried one of the protestors who described the acts as "cultural genocide". The group urged UNESCO to protect the ancient artifacts by making them World Heritage Sites.

The protestors then marched down the street with their signs including an 8 feet cross-stone replica and a 12 feet dummy with blood-stained hands representing the President of Azerbaijan. They stopped in front of the Azerbaijani Embassy, where they protested for the destruction of the cross-stones, the massacre of ethnic Armenians in Sumgait and threats of breaking the 1994 cease-fire with Nagorno Karabakh by the Azerbaijani government. “The destruction of the irreplaceable relics of Middle Age Christian culture in Jolfa is yet another short sited and uncivilized policy which inflicts a great loss to Armenians and to the entire Christian world.” cried one protestor.

* NOTE
Jolfa is also spelled as Djolfa and Djulfa (in international English), Jugha or Djugha (by Armenians) Julfa or Jolfa (by present Iranians), and Joga in Nakhichevan.