Azerbaijan, Baku, July 21 / Trend I. Isabalayeva /
Armenia is changing the names of Azerbaijani monuments, the Chairman of the State Committee for Work with Religious Associations Hidayat Orujov said at a conference titled "Traditions of Tolerance and Interfaith Dialogue in Azerbaijan."
"Armenian monuments - for example, the Armenian church in Baku - are protected by the state", Orujov said. "Unfortunately, Armenia not only destroys the cultural heritage in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan, but also renames the Azerbaijani monuments. Albanian monuments reflecting the entire epoch in the history of the Azerbaijani people are turned into monuments of the Gregorian Church."
The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Russia, France, and the U.S. - are currently holding the peace negotiations.
Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council's four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding regions.