Western Azerbaijan Community urges Armenia to stop destroying Azerbaijani cultural heritage

The Western Azerbaijan Community has urged Armenia to stop destroying the Azerbaijani cultural heritage on its territory.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia once again tried to speculate on the issue of protection of cultural monuments. Instead of talking about sending a UNESCO mission to the territories of Azerbaijan, the Armenian side should accept such a mission in its territory," the community said in a statement published on November 29, Caliber.Az reports.

It was noted that the community has repeatedly sent a request to UNESCO to send a mission to Armenia for the purpose of monitoring the condition of Azerbaijani monuments in Armenia.

According to the statement, UNESCO has communicated with the Armenian government about its request. However, this mission is still not taking place since Armenia has not approved

“Actions committed by Armenia are in violation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Convention on the Protection of the Universal Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Time of Military Conflicts, the Convention on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,” the community stressed

The organization believes that Armenia's failure to accept the UNESCO mission, its refusal to hold a dialogue with the community on the Protection of Cultural Heritage, and its continued demonstrative destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage, including the Tepebashi neighbourhood in Yerevan, are also a gross violation of the decision of the International Court of Justice dated December 7, 2021.

"It should be recalled that the International Court of Justice in its decision demands that Armenia immediately end the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage sites and examples of ethnic and cultural property and the policy of erasing Azerbaijani cultural traces.

The West Azerbaijani Community demands that the Armenian government immediately stop destroying the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan, including the historical Tepebashi neighbourhood of Yerevan, and restore the destroyed Azerbaijani cultural monuments. In order to ensure the originality and authenticity of the monuments during the restoration, the close participation of the West Azerbaijan Community in this process is necessary.

The Armenian government should start a dialogue with the West Azerbaijan Community on this issue and accept the relevant mission of UNESCO,” the statement says.