UNESCO mission to assess Karabakh`s cultural heritage

Baku welcomes UNESCO mission to assess Karabakh`s cultural heritage. 

The Ambassador-at-Large of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs Elshad Isgandarov told Russian Izvestia newspaper that Baku is getting ready for a visit of the UNESCO commission to the liberated territories.

“Baku welcomes the mission to assess the entire cultural heritage of Karabakh, which President Ilham Aliyev has repeatedly stated. Moreover, our relevant structures are in a constructive dialogue with UNESCO - the technical parameters of the mission are already being coordinated. Therefore, any speculations on this topic are groundless, and its politicization is unacceptable,” the diplomat emphasized.

“Armenia bears responsibility for the non-admission of the UNESCO assessment mission to Karabakh for decades. The world community has not exerted proper influence on Yerevan all these years in order to ensure the admission of cultural experts to these territories. By liberating the territories from Armenian occupation, we ourselves provided the conditions for the fulfillment of the mission of UNESCO. We raise the question that all cultural and religious heritage, including all Christian heritage in Karabakh, must be protected and restored,” he added.

As a result of Armenian vandalism, hundreds of cultural institutions, including 927 libraries with 4.6 million books, 808 palaces of culture, clubs and other cultural institutions, 85 music and art schools were destroyed on Azerbaijan's occupied territories. 

Over 700 historical and cultural monuments registered by the state before the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were looted, including the 11 and 15-span Khudaferin bridges in Jabrayil, Ganjasar and Khudavend sanctuaries in Kalbajar, the mausoleum in Aghdam's Khachin Turbetli village, Azykh cave in Fuzuli as well as Shusha state historical and architectural reserve.

The clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan resumed after Armenia launched large-scale attacks on Azerbaijani forces and civilians on September 27. 

The 44 days of war ended with a Russian-brokered peace deal signed on November 10 by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.  

The peace agreement ended the 30-year-old conflict between Baku and Yerevan over Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region that along with the seven adjacent districts came under the occupation of the Armenian armed forces in the war in the early 1990s.

For about three decades, Armenia failed to implement the UN Security Council resolutions demanding the withdrawal of the Armenian troops, which was the main obstacle to the resolution of the conflict.