Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

Azerbaijan has lambasted Armenia for hosting a UNESCO conference titled “Cultural Policy and Policy for Culture,” stating that the country has been leading an aggressive campaign against Azerbaijani culture – pillaging its historical, religious and cultural monuments over the years.

Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hikmet Hajiyev said Armenia – which pursues a policy of vandalism against Azerbaijan’s historical, material and cultural heritage on its own territory and on occupied Azerbaijani lands– has no moral, cultural, political, or legal right to host the UNESCO conference on cultural policy.

Hajiyev noted that at the conference, an Armenian representative said the destruction of the culture of other nations is “cultural genocide” and thereby indeed implicated its own country’s policy against the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people.

Armenia continues to actively falsify and annihilate Azerbaijan’s historical and cultural heritage in the occupied territories.

Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan led to the destruction of numerous precious artifacts and monuments of great historical and spiritual value in an attempt to erode Azerbaijan’s glorious history, culture, cuisine, and traditions.

“As a result of Armenian aggression against Azerbaijan, 927 libraries, nine mosques, 44 shrines, 464 historical monuments and museums, over 40,000 museum pieces were looted, destroyed and crushed on the occupied territories,” Hajiyev said.

He added that namely as a result of the “cultural policy” pursued by Armenia, a bag made of silver from the Lachin museum – belonging to the historical heritage of Azerbaijan – was sold for $80,000 at Sotheby's auction in London.

“The material, cultural and religious heritage of the Azerbaijani people on Azerbaijan’s historical lands on Armenia’s territory was also damaged as a result of the cultural genocide policy that the Armenian representative was talking about,” Hajiyev said.

Azerbaijan has thus far suffered grave damage to its economy, culture, tourism, and many other sectors in the wake of Armenia's violent and aggressive policy in the region.

Baku's latest calculations showed that the damages caused by Armenia during the years of occupation stand at an estimated $700 billion.

The destruction and damaging of historical and cultural monuments by the Armenian invaders in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan contradict the 1954 Hague convention on preservation of cultural values during armed conflicts, the 1992 European convention on preservation of archeological heritage, and the 1972 UNESCO convention on preservation of world cultural and natural heritage.

In 2005 and 2010, the OSCE fact-finding missions confirmed Armenia's vandalism against Azerbaijan Islamic heritage in the occupied Azerbaijani territories. Since, the inhuman treatment of a nation's cultural heritage has been seen as a war crime - Armenia should therefore stand trial for its war crimes and crimes against humanity.

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Sara Rajabova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @SaraRajabova

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