Oskanian Called Destruction of Armenian Cemetery in Nakhichevan

PanARMENIAN.Net - When addressing the 116th session of the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian addressed the issue of destruction of Armenian khachkars in Nakhichevan. "I can only wish that the ideas and ideals of Europe came automatically with membership. Perhaps then I would not be here today to mourn the irreversible, irrational, intentional destruction of a medieval Armenian cemetery on the territory of Azerbaijan," he said.



The Minister emphasized, "Thousands of massive, uniqueArmenian khachkars - stone sculptures which had survived through - centuries are no longer there. A cemetery has been wiped out and the hillside has been turned into a shooting range. This barbarism is a blatant attempt to wipe out traces of Armenian presence on those lands," Oskanian said, reports the Press Service of the Armenian MFA.