Azernews.Az

By Vafa Ismayilova

A group of Azerbaijani intellectuals have appealed to UNESCO over the intentional destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural and religious heritage on the territory of Armenia, local news sources have reported.

In the document addressed to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, the intellectuals expressed serious concern about the threat of complete disappearance of the centuries-old cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people on the territory of Armenia as a result of its policy.

“Due to Armenia’s ethnic cleansing policy since the early 20th century, Azerbaijanis, who were indigenous residents of those places, underwent massive deportation from their ancestral lands. The last deportation was carried out in 1988, which resulted in over 250,000 Azerbaijanis’ becoming refugees. Today there isn't a single Azerbaijani remaining in Armenia. The country purposefully removes the traces of Azerbaijani culture everywhere, plunders, destroys and appropriates the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani people,” said the appeal.

It added that the historical names of former Azerbaijani-populated villages in Armenia, had been changed, and the names of ancient Azerbaijani toponyms had been replaced by Armenian ones.

"Over 300 mosques in the former Iravan Governorate (in Armenia) in the early 20th century were deliberately destroyed or used for other purposes. More than 500 cemeteries belonging to Azerbaijanis have been destroyed in Armenia. Moreover, famous Azerbaijani poet Ashig Alasgar’s grave in his native village, in ancient Goycha Province (which was located around Goycha (present-day Sevan) Lake in Armenia), was also destroyed. All the facts show once again that Armenia doesn’t recognize universal human values. This is contrary to all religious and moral norms," said the appeal.

It emphasized that impunity for acts of vandalism, which went on for decades, is yet another proof that this is part of Armenia's state policy.

"Deliberate destruction, appropriation of the Azerbaijani people’s cultural heritage, its presentation as the heritage of other peoples show that Armenia rejects the very fact that Azerbaijanis have lived on these lands for centuries, creating rich cultural heritage. This is a vivid example of intolerance that exists in Armenia against the Azerbaijani people," the appeal added.

The Azerbaijani intellectuals called for an official request to be sent to the Armenian government for a detailed report on the current situation with the Azerbaijani people's cultural heritage on the Amenian territory.

"We also ask to send an expert group to Armenia to assess the current state of the objects of the centuries-old cultural and historical heritage of the Azerbaijani people," they noted.

The appeal authors also asked to inform them about UNESCO’s official position on the implementation of this initiative.

On March 26, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said that the broad international media coverage of total demolition of the once occupied territories of Azerbaijan, which were labelled as "Ghost town" or "Hiroshima of Caucasus", clearly demonstrated the vandalism of Armenia and deliberate policy of destruction of Azerbaijan's historical, cultural and religious heritage supported at the state level.

The ministry stressed that Armenia deliberately targeted the Azerbaijani heritage, conducted cultural cleansing and numerous war crimes in the once occupied territories, including the destruction of 927 libraries, more than 60 mosques, 44 temples, 473 historical sites, palaces and museums.

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