PACE committee meeting considers damage to Azerbaijan's cultural heritage

On the eve of the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a meeting of the institution's committee on culture, science, education and the media has been held in Paris.

A UNESCO representative also took part in the discussions on the report "Combating the destruction of cultural identity in conditions of war and peace", Caliber.Az reports, citing Azertac.

Although Ukrainian PACE speaker Yevgenia Kravchuk focused on her country in her report, the consequences caused by a similar problem in other participating countries were also widely discussed. Rafael Huseynov, a member of the committee, who took part in the discussions, said that although each nation creates its own cultural heritage, in general, such a heritage is of a universal nature and belongs to everyone. Therefore, everyone should protect cultural heritage.

Huseynov noted that during the 30-year occupation of Azerbaijan territories, the cultural heritage of the country was dealt a serious blow. Referring to specific facts, he told the European deputies about the damage inflicted on Azerbaijan's cultural heritage. He reported on the destruction of the monuments of our cultural heritage by the Armenian occupiers. It was noted that a 2,200-year-old statue was destroyed in the Aghdam district's Boyukahmadli village.

The Azerbaijani MP stressed that during this period more than 100,000 cultural monuments of national and world significance of Azerbaijan were rendered unusable and seized, about 500 historical and more than 100 archaeological monuments, 22 museums were destroyed.

He recalled that on June 27, 2001, the Parliamentary Assembly adopted a separate recommendation No. 9147 entitled "Destruction and seizure of the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan" on the damage caused by Armenia to the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan and that the recent statements of the Armenian side about damage to their cultural heritage are groundless, an attempt to falsely present the culprit as the victim.

In conclusion, Rafael Huseynov stated that Azerbaijan is always sensitive to issues related to cultural heritage.