Head of the Press Service Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Leyla Abdullayeva answers the local media's question on the comment of the Armenian Foreign Ministry regarding the dispatch of the UNESCO mission

Answer: Unfortunately, the Armenian Foreign Ministry still suffers from so-called amnesic syndrome. In this case, we remind the opposite side once more that Armenia pursuing a policy of aggression against Azerbaijan, keeping a part of its internationally-recognized territories under military occupation nearly for 30 years, bears responsibility for military crimes such as deliberate destruction, misappropriation and alteration of historical, cultural and religious heritage in these lands, illicit removal of our cultural heritage from the country. Numerous appeals have been made to UNESCO by Azerbaijan regarding the dispatch of the mission to the region for investigation of these war crimes and it was exactly Armenia, who prevented international missions to visit Azerbaijani territories under occupation at that time. This fact has been reflected in the reports of the organization; We recommend the Armenian Foreign Ministry to get acquainted with the activity report of UNESCO published in 2005. The report clearly states that the government of Azerbaijan has requested a fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and other occupied surrounding territories, but due to the military occupation of Armenia this mission has not been possible.

The scale of deliberate destruction, committed by Armenia in these lands, have been noted comprehensively by the international community, including the official representatives of states, independent media agencies, at the same time non-governmental organizations, etc. after Azerbaijan liberated its territories from occupation.

False and absurd accusations against Azerbaijan by a country, which committed unprecedented vandalism and “cultural cleansing”, with the aim to cover up its deeds is, unfortunately, not new. The Armenian side should finally understand that this experience has no perspective.

Azerbaijan has commented on many times about the dispatch of the UNESCO's independent and objective mission in our liberated territories and even called for the acceleration of the process. As official Yerevan declared that they do not object the implementation of such a mission, we hope that the mission will be sent soon and results of the policy of deliberate destruction of historical, cultural, and religious heritage, pursued by Armenia for decades, will be recorded.