BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 5. The Western Azerbaijan Community presented specific topics to the leadership of UNESCO within the framework of a substantive dialogue with the organization, Trend reports.
UNESCO's response to the appeal of the Western Azerbaijan Community confirming that the protection of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage on the territory of modern Armenia is within the mandate of the organization initiated a dialogue between the parties in this field.
The community once again raised the issue of sending a fact-finding mission to Armenia to assess the state of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage on the territory of present-day Armenia, noting that this issue has become especially urgent in connection with the destruction of the Tepebasi quarter in the city of Irevan by the Armenian authorities.
A significant part of Azerbaijani history and culture will be irretrievably lost with the destruction of the Tepebasi quarter, which is one of the few surviving examples of Azerbaijani heritage in Armenia.
"Our organization, which shares an approach to the protection of cultural heritage as a source of sustainable development and peace, has asked UNESCO for practical assistance in building skills, as provided for in relevant international conventions recognizing the important role of communities in this area,” the Western Azerbaijan Community said.
“As a community that fully complies with the norms and principles of international law, we believe that we can make a greater contribution to the protection of cultural heritage by taking advantage of UNESCO's capacity-building programs. We asked the UNESCO leadership to inform the member States about our cultural heritage and include this issue in the relevant reports of the organization,” the community added.
“We believe that raising international awareness about the situation of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage in Armenia by UNESCO structures will encourage member states to take effective steps to protect this heritage and, most importantly, prevent destructive steps on the part of Armenia," they said.