Azernews.Az

BAKU – Azerbaijan has filed a lawsuit against Armenia to a European court over the destruction of numerous shrines and museums in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.

The lawsuit, whereby Azerbaijan condemned vandalism and appropriation of four mosques, five museums and three monasteries dating back to the Caucasus Albania era, was sent to the European Court of Human Rights under a project financed by the Council of State Support to NGOs under the Azerbaijan President. The project aims to reinstate in court the property rights of Azerbaijani citizens suffering from the Armenian aggression.

According to Faig Ismayilov, who heads an organization working to protect historical and cultural monuments in the occupied Azerbaijani territories, the lawsuit concerns heritage samples including a local lore museum and a monastery in the Kalbajar region, as well as two mosques in the historic Azerbaijani town of Shusha in the Nagorno Karabakh region.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a brutal war over Nagorno Karabakh that emerged before the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. Ethnic Armenian forces backed by Yerevan have occupied the region and seven surrounding Azerbaijani districts since a fragile ceasefire was signed in 1994. Efforts by Russian, US and French mediators have been largely unsuccessful so far.