Armenia destroys about 900 Azerbaijani monuments

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

Armenia has destroyed about 900 cultural and religious monuments as a result of occupation of Azerbaijani territories.

This remark was made by Mubariz Gurbanli, Chairman of Azerbaijani State Committee for Work with Religious Organizations at an event titled "Protection of cultural and religious heritage in the Caucasus."

He said that the protection of cultural and religious heritage is of significant importance. In this regard a set of documents has been adopted at the international level, which was ratified by Azerbaijan as well.

"The Caucasus is one of the unique regions of the world, where representatives of many world religions exist. Historical monuments are destroyed not only today. It has also occurred in the past. Unfortunately, the humanity has learned nothing from the past,” he said.

Azerbaijan’s cultural and spiritual heritage is constantly exposed to aggression by the Armenians.

After occupying 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally-recognized territories, Armenia pursues a policy of vandalism against Azerbaijan’s historical, material and cultural heritage on its own territory and on occupied Azerbaijani lands.

Armenians have destroyed 927 libraries in the occupied Azerbaijani territories as part of the purposeful policy to annihilate the history and culture of the Land of Fire.

Moreover, nine mosques, 44 shrines, 464 historical monuments and museums, over 40,000 museum pieces were looted, destroyed and crushed on the occupied territories.

The damages caused by Armenia during the years of occupation of Azerbaijani lands hit about $818 billion.

The destruction and damaging of historical and cultural monuments by the Armenian invaders in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan contradict the 1954 Hague convention on preservation of cultural values during armed conflicts, the 1992 European convention on preservation of archeological heritage, and the 1972 UNESCO convention on preservation of world cultural and natural heritage.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

The UN Security Council has adopted four resolutions on Armenia's withdrawal from the Azerbaijani territory, but they have not been enforced to this day.