BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 7. Azerbaijan very sensitively treats the protection of its cultural heritage, Minister of Culture Anar Karimov said, Trend reports.
Karimov made the remark at the presentation of the heritage.gov.az website of the State Service for the Protection, Development, and Restoration of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture on historical and cultural monuments in the territories liberated from Armenian occupation [in the 2020 Second Karabakh War].
According to him, the Azerbaijani cultural legacy was vandalized in previously occupied Karabakh for 30 years.
"This was cultural genocide. This process began in the early 20th century in our historical lands - in Irevan and Zangazur. The goal of the policy is to erase the traces of Azerbaijan," the minister noted.
"They [followers of such policy] can erase these traces, but they cannot erase our memory. The liberation of our lands as a result of the second Karabakh war proved once again that we have a historical memory," added Karimov.