Azernews.Az

By Sara Rajabova

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

Unsatisfied with the ethnic cleansing of the Azerbaijani population in occupied Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent regions, the Armenians are ravaging the historical and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan in these territories.

The Armenians are increasing the number of churches in the lands under occupation to seemingly demonstrate that these territories ‘belong’ to them.

Faig Ismayilov, the chairman of Organization for Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan has said the construction of churches began after the occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the seven adjacent regions, local media reported.

"Churches in Azerbaijan’s territory were generally built at the foot of the mountains, but not in the administrative centers of settlements and along roadsides. Churches are built not for prayer but to show in the future that these territories belong to Armenians,” Ismayilov said.

After invading Azerbaijan's territories, Armenia has been pursuing a campaign of ruining the cultural and historical monuments of the Azerbaijani people. The Armenians are fabricating facts about the monuments of ancient Caucasian Albania.

A variety of ancient Albanian scripts, wall designs and crosses have been replaced by Armenian attributes. A number of mosques are used as storehouses. Buildings as well as unique museums located in the occupied Azerbaijani lands have been either destroyed or used as the grounds for new museums, with Armenians claiming that they belong to them.

Ismayilov stressed that at the same time, Armenia has granted church status to 175 monuments of the Albanian period in the occupied territories and increased the number of churches in Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent regions by up to 190.

This is approximately 20 times more than the number of churches in Armenia, according to him.

Ismayilov further noted that the total amount of damage to historical and cultural monuments in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories is $177 billion, $88 billion of which are in the state registration, while $46 billion are monuments without state registration.

He went on to say that the destruction of monuments in Azerbaijan’s occupied territories should be investigated by international organizations, and they should receive a legal assessment.

However, despite numerous calls and appeals to international organizations by Azerbaijan, Armenia’s illegal and destructive actions have not received the appropriate response.

Commenting on the issue, Azerbaijani political analyst, MP Asim Mollazade told AzerNews that Azerbaijan should inform the international community that all historical and cultural monuments belonging to the country have been destroyed.

Mollazade said after the ethnic cleansing of Azerbaijanis in the occupied territories by Armenians, now the gross annihilation of Azerbaijan’s culture and cultural values is underway on these lands.

“Azerbaijan provides UNESCO with relevant information on such crimes committed by the Armenians. I think that we need to continue our work in this direction. The whole world should know what kind of atrocities are committed by Armenians,” he said.

Mollazade further voiced regret that despite Azerbaijan’s repeated calls to the international community on this issue, no action is taken in this regard.

“Unfortunately, the very rich Armenian lobby in Europe, as well as the other countries of the world, continues to spread lies about Azerbaijan. No serious efforts aimed at putting an end to Armenia’s policy were carried out. This fact raises regret,” the politician said.

Azerbaijan and Armenia fought a lengthy war that ended with the signing of a precarious cease-fire in 1994. Since then, the Armenian armed forces have occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh, defying international calls and UN resolutions.

The first human dwellings like the well-known Azykh and Taghlar caves, the Garakopak and Uzarliktapa burial mounds, located on the occupied territories, are being used for military purposes. Most of them have been destroyed. Cemeteries, mausoleums, monuments, mosques, temples and monuments that once belonged to Caucasian Albania and other cultural heritage sites in the occupied regions of Shusha, Lachin, Kalbajar, Gubadli, Zangilan, and Fuzuli have been destroyed along with burial mounds in Khojaly, Aghdam, Aghdara, Fuzuli and Jabrayil.

The destruction of Azerbaijani cultural monuments in the occupied territories continues to this day. The invaders are carrying out large-scale archeological excavations, destroying burial mounds.

The destruction and damage of historical and cultural monuments by the Armenian invaders in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan contradict the 1954 Hague convention on the 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.

The preservation of historical and cultural monuments in the Armenian-occupied territory of Azerbaijan as memories of the nation's centuries-old history is a matter of international importance, since the Azerbaijani people's cultural heritage is an integral part of world culture.

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

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