Azernews.Az

The Council of Europe will delegate a fact-finding mission to Azerbaijan, Armenia and the occupied Azerbaijani region of Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh in September.
Representatives of the CE Committee of Ministers will monitor the condition of cultural and historical monuments in the two countries, said Robert Palmer, Director of Culture and Cultural and Natural Heritage.
Azerbaijan and Armenia that have been in a state of war for many years accuse each other of destroying cultural monuments in their territories. Azerbaijan accuses Armenia of vandalism in its occupied land, while Armenia claims the destruction of its gravestones in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.
Palmer said Baku and Yerevan had submitted to the CE the lists of monuments that they believe are facing the destruction threat.
Palmer is visiting Azerbaijan on a task of the CE General Directorate. The objective of the visit is to hold consultations ahead of the fact-finding mission`s visit to the region and solve outstanding technical and security matters.
"The CE believes the destruction of monuments is unacceptable," he said.
The CE delegation had a meeting at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday. Azerbaijani officials reminded that 1,890 cultural and historical monuments remain in the Armenia-occupied territories and their current state is unknown.
"Azerbaijan is interested in scrutinizing the barbaric actions committed against cultural heritage in the region," the ministry`s department head Tofig Musayev said.
He said Baku was keen on revealing the truth about the plight of these monuments, saying they have been subject to an aggression in the occupied territories.
The Azerbaijani government expects the CE mission to be unbiased in assessing the situation with cultural monuments.