Azerbaijani deputy foreign minister addresses UNESCO General Conference PHOTO

On November 7-10, 2023, a delegation led by Azerbaijani Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov made a working visit to France to participate in the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference.

Azerbaijan was elected one of the vice-presidents of the General Conference by a unanimous decision on the first day of the session, Caliber.Az reports with reference to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

During the visit, Deputy Foreign Minister Elnur Mammadov spoke at the general political debates of the General Conference, and also held a number of bilateral meetings.

Making a statement on November 10, Deputy Minister Elnur Mammadov said that Azerbaijan is one of the key partners of the Organization and regularly promotes intercultural and interreligious dialogue with important global initiatives.

In his speech, the deputy minister touched upon the issue of the complete destruction of existing historical, cultural and religious monuments in the Karabakh region of Azerbaijan, as well as in the territories of Armenia, on the basis of national hatred towards Azerbaijanis, and noted that Azerbaijan has repeatedly appealed to UNESCO and other international organizations on this issue.

It was emphasized that despite numerous calls from Azerbaijan to take urgent measures to ensure the protection of existing cultural heritage and organize relevant fact-finding missions, this could not be achieved due to Armenia’s obstacles.

In his speech, the deputy minister also spoke about the large-scale reconstruction and restoration work carried out by Azerbaijan in the post-conflict period, and said that Azerbaijan attaches special importance to the restoration of existing cultural and religious sites in the region, and that many steps have been taken in this direction.

During the visit, Deputy Minister Elnur Mammadov also held bilateral meetings with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay and Deputy Director General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos.

At the meetings, an exchange of views took place on Azerbaijan-UNESCO relations, the current cooperation agenda, including the prospects for cooperation of the organization in the field of social and human sciences, and numerous initiatives put forward by Azerbaijan.

The meetings also gave detailed information about the destruction by Armenia of historical, cultural and religious monuments in the territories of both Azerbaijan and Armenia. In this regard, a call was made to send a corresponding fact-finding mission to Armenia in order to assess the current state of the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan.

It was stated that Armenia’s claims that supposedly cultural and historical monuments in the region are in danger after Azerbaijan’s anti-terrorism measures in Karabakh are unfounded, and this was confirmed by two UN missions in the region.

The importance of the Baku Process initiative on intercultural dialogue was emphasized at the meeting.

Stating that UNESCO is the main supporter and partner of the Baku Process, as well as the World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue, hopes were expressed for the continuation of this cooperation.

At the 42nd session of the General Conference, which will last until November 22, 2023, Azerbaijan will be represented by various institutions in their respective fields.