UN raises issue of destruction of Azerbaijani heritage in Armenia VIDEO

At the 51st session of the general discussions of the UN Human Rights Council, attention was drawn to the fact that acts of vandalism were committed in Yerevan against the historical, religious and cultural monuments of Azerbaijan.

Representative of the International Institute for Rights and Development-Geneva (IRDG) Asmita Baidya said in her speech on forced deportation of the local Azerbaijani population from the city of Yerevan in the 19th-20th centuries and an unprecedented cultural genocide, which was committed against Azerbaijani heritage, APA reports. 

The representative of the IRDG said that the state-organized cultural vandalism in Yerevan was part of a large-scale anti-Azerbaijani campaign aimed at destroying all material evidence of the city’s ownership by Azerbaijanis: today only one mosque remains in the city, the Blue Mosque. "Despite the distortion and destruction of the mosque, the name of the Blue Mosque (Göy məscid) is the name in Azerbaijani language."

Asmita Baidya recalled that Armenians set fire to the Blue Mosque three times in the 20th century, and these acts of vandalism took place simultaneously with the expulsion of local Azerbaijanis from the city in 1918, 1955 and 1988. Attention was drawn to the fact that Armenia leased the Blue Mosque to Iran for 99 years.

In conclusion, it was noted that the distortion of the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan in Yerevan is observed not only with regard to the mosques, but also to other artifacts belonging to our people: “These acts of vandalism are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, including UNESCO regulatory documents, such as the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols as well as the 1970 Convention.

The IRDG representative emphasised that cultural distortions and human trafficking can create injustice and hatred.