Azerbaijan destroys Park of Teachers in KarabakhMay 23, 2022 - 12:31 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A video posted recently by Telegram user @ararathau shows the destruction of the Park of Teachers in the Nagorno-Karabakh village of Mets Tagher, occupied by Azerbaijan in the days following the Second Karabakh War in fall 2020. An inscription about the construction of the park in memory of the teachers of Mets Tagher and Sokrat Aghabekyan is gone too. The 4th article of the 1954 Hague Convention “On the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict” prohibits any act of vandalism, theft, robbery or misappropriation of cultural property in any form, and also imposes an absolute ban on any acts of revenge against cultural property. According to the second protocol of the Hague Convention of 1999, which is also valid during international (ethnic) conflicts, the manifestation of hatred, or revenge against cultural heritage is prohibited, and actions that are regarded under Article 15 as an international crime are also prohibited. According to the Article 53 of the Geneva First Protocol to the Convention of 12 August 1949 (without violating the provisions of the 1954 Hague Convention), it is prohibited: “Without prejudice to the provisions of the Hague Convention of May 14, 1954, it is prohibited to carry out any hostile action against cultural heritage, to use it for military purposes, or make it a subject of retaliation”. During the recent military hostilities, Azerbaijani forces launched two targeted attacks on the Holy Savior Ghazanchetsots Cathedral in Shushi. Azerbaijan earlier "restored" a church by replacing its Armenian inscription with glass art. Furthermore, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev visited the region of Hadrut in territories occupied by Azerbaijan and declared his intention to "renovate" a 12th century Armenian church, which he claimed to "an Albanian church". Aliyev went so far as to accuse Armenians of leaving "fake inscriptions" in the Armenian language. Concerns about the preservation of cultural sites in Nagorno-Karabakh are made all the more urgent by the Azerbaijani government’s history of systemically destroying indigenous Armenian heritage—acts of both warfare and historical revisionism. The Azerbaijani government has secretly destroyed a striking number of cultural and religious artifacts in the late 20th century. Within Nakhichevan alone, a historically Armenian enclave in Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani forces destroyed at least 89 medieval churches, 5,840 khachkars (Armenian cross stones) and 22,000 historical tombstones between 1997 and 2006. Top stories Six total incidents have burned 19 old-growth trees. Friday night 8 trees were torched along the beautiful main entrance. The EU does not intend to conduct military exercises with Armenia, Lead Spokesperson for EU Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Peter Stano says. Hikmet Hajiyev has said that there is no place for USAID operation in Azerbaijan any longer. A telephone conversation between Putin and Pashinyan before the CSTO summit is not planned, Peskov says. Partner news | Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |