Armenia raises Azerbaijan's destruction of Karabakh heritage with UNESCO

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay have discussed the deliberate destruction of Armenian heritage sites in the territories that came under the control of Azerbaijan after Baku's aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh.

The two met in Paris on Wednesday, March 16, and Mirzoyan drew Azoulay's attention to the establishment of a state working group for the distortion of the Armenian monuments' identity. It was also emphasized during the meeting that such actions go against decision of the UN International Court of Justice on the protection of the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage.

The Armenian Foreign Minister stressed the need for the urgent intervention of UNESCO to prevent the vandalism of the historical and cultural monuments of Artsakh, which are part of the universal cultural heritage. He also called prioritized the arrangement of fact-finding mission to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone proposed by the UNESCO Secretary-General.

Mirzoyan also stressed that Armenia is expanding cooperation with UNESCO in the fields of education, science and communication. He noted that Armenia, as a member of the Executive Board of UNESCO, continues to be committed to the promotion of world peace, development and multilateralism, which are the pillars of the Organization.