Analysis centre issues report on Armenia's Azerbaijani heritage appropriation
By Vafa Ismayilova
The International Relations Analysis Centre has prepared a report on "Armenia's Appropriation of Azerbaijani Cultural and Historical Heritage".
The report examines various aspects of the policy of Armenia's appropriation of the country's historical and cultural heritage both on Azerbaijani territories liberated from the Armenian occupation and on the Armenian territory.
The first part of the report, which consists of two sections, examines the looting of the cultural and historical heritage of Karabakh, including museums and cultural monuments, as well as illegal archaeological excavations in the area.
The second part of the report analyzes the "armenization" of monuments and falsification of the heritage belonging to Azerbaijanis. Some part of the report has been prepared on the basis of sources provided by the Azerbaijani Culture Ministry.
The document also used the legal assessment set out in the material headlined "Protecting cultural heritage in armed conflicts" worked out by Bochum University Professor Hans-Joachim Heinz.
The report can be read and downloaded at the link below:
https://aircenter.az/uploads/files/Cultural%20Appropriation.pdf
In its official statement in early May, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that hundreds of cultural institutions, 927 libraries with a book fund of 4.6 million, 22 museums and museum branches with more than 100,000 exhibits, 4 art galleries, 8 culture, and recreation parks, as well as one of the oldest settlements in the world in Fuzuli district - Azykh Cave, the Shusha State Historical and Architectural Reserve has become victims of Armenian vandalism.
The scale of destruction in Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied territories suggests deep hatred and animosity against Azerbaijanis, with many experts describing these mass destructions as genocide.
Azerbaijan and Armenia resumed the second war after that latter started firing at Azerbaijani civilians and military positions starting September 27, 2020. The war ended on November 10 with the signing of a trilateral peace deal by the Azerbaijani, Russian and Armenian leaders.
The peace agreement stipulated the return of Azerbaijan's Armenian-occupied Kalbajar, Aghdam and Lachin regions. Before the signing of the deal, the Azerbaijani army had liberated around 300 villages, settlements, city centres, and historic Shusha city. The Azerbaijani army declared a victory against the Armenian troops. The signed agreement obliged Armenia to withdraw its troops from the Azerbaijani lands that it has occupied since the early 1990s.
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