Creative elite completely ignores destroyed Karabakh mosques - Russia's Spiritual Administration of Muslims

By Trend

The cultural catastrophe that befell tens and hundreds of Muslim monuments of Karabakh is being completely ignored, the First Vice-Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) of Russia Damir Mukhetdinov wrote on Facebook, Trend reports.

“I was surprised to read today the news about the appeal of eminent cultural figures to UNESCO. Directors, conductors, musicians and other representatives of the creative elite are asking to include the monuments of the Christian cultural, artistic and architectural heritage of the Nagorno-Karabakh region in the World Heritage List for their further preservation," he wrote.

"I was amazed by the selective approach of cultural figures, who absolutely openly pointed out that they consider only the Christian churches of Nagorno-Karabakh to be a cultural heritage that must be preserved, without a shadow of hesitation closing their eyes to the desecration and destruction of Muslim monuments,” Mukhetdinov noted.

Mukhetdinov said that during the decades of their stay on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, 63 out of 67 mosques in the region were destroyed.

“With an objective approach, any observer is forced to note that Azerbaijan positions itself as a multicultural state, equally respectful to all religious traditions. Baku is the repeated capital of the Summit of the Leaders of World Religions,” he wrote.

“I consider it absolutely right to draw UNESCO's attention to the historical heritage of Karabakh,” Mukhetdinov said.

“I hope and believe that the experts of this authoritative international organization, which recently celebrated its 75th anniversary, will have enough education and tact to begin an examination of the preservation and make appropriate decisions to further protect the historical heritage of the region without regard to the religious affiliation of objects, objectively and impartially,” he added.