The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan has stated that Azerbaijan is interested in studying barbarism facts and revealing the truth with respect to its cultural heritage.
“The aggression against Azerbaijani cultural heritage took place in the occupied territories”, Tofig Musayev, head of the Foreign Policy Planning and Strategic Research Department of the AR Foreign Ministry said during his meeting with Robert Palmer, director on Culture, Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Council of Europe.
Reference of Trend News:
Visit of the delegation led by Robert Palmer, director on Culture, Cultural and Natural Heritage of the Council of Europe to Azerbaijan started on July 8.
Azerbaijan appealed to the international organizations, as well as the Council of Europe to study the facts of destruction of its cultural and historical monuments in the lands occupied by Armenia.
Palmer stated during the meeting that Azerbaijan and Armenia had assumed the obligation not to commit aggression in respect of cultural heritage. According to him, after the lists of the destroyed cultural monuments are introduced by the parties, they will be verified. The facts will be examined by the independent mission of the CoE Cabinet of Ministers. The mission of the CoE Cabinet of Ministers will visit the region in September if there are no problems, Palmer underlined.
After the meeting, Samad Seyidov, head of the Azerbaijani delegation to the PACE said the aim of the CoE officials’ visit is to get ready to the conference of the ministers of culture to take place in Baku in December.
“The issue of destruction of cultural heritage is getting more and more urgent every day, and the CoE is regularly informed of the destruction facts by Armenians in the occupied lands of Azerbaijan”, Seyidov added.
The film reflecting the destruction facts of Azerbaijani cultural monuments was shown to the guests.
Armenia occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory – Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts are occupied by the Armenian armed forces. The occupation started in 1988. Until December 1991, Azerbaijan lost control over Nagorno-Karabakh except for Shusha and Khojaly. But in 1992-93, Shusha, Khojaly and seven surrounding districts of Nagorno-Karabakh were occupied too. In 1994, the parties signed the ceasefire agreement and hold peace talks till today.
The co-chairs to the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the USA are mediating for peaceful solution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
Trend
