BAKU, Azerbaijan, December 17. Representatives of Azerbaijani NGOs have requested UNESCO send a fact-finding mission to Armenia in the Open Letter to the organization's Director-General Audrey Azoulay, Trend reports.
"We are writing to express our deep concern and to demand action against Armenia's systematic policy, which intentionally destroys cultural property and erases the historical and cultural roots of Azerbaijani heritage in Armenia. These measures have resulted in the intentional destruction of Azerbaijani tangible and intangible cultural heritage, targeting the enduring traces of the Azerbaijani people who lived in these territories for centuries.
Armenia's policy has deliberately destroyed and misappropriated Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Western Zangazur, Gafan, Iravan, Goycha, Nuvadi, Vedi, and other places. During the conflict in the early 1990s, Armenia bulldozed the Damirbulag Mosque in Iravan and destroyed the sixteenth-century Sardar Mosque in several stages. The Gala Mosque, Shah Abbas Mosque, Tapabashi Mosque, Zal Khan Mosque, Sartib Khan Mosque, Haji Novruzali Bey Mosque, Haji Jafar Bey Mosque, Rajab Pasha Mosque, Mohammad Sartib Khan Mosque, Haji Inam Mosque, and more than 300 other religious and cultural heritage sites in Armenia have suffered the same fate.
Additionally, desecration and destruction have occurred in more than 500 Azerbaijani cemeteries in Armenia, including Aghadada, Ashaghi Shorja, Gullubulagh, and Saral. They also destroyed the tomb of the great Azerbaijani poet Ashig Alasgar, a prominent figure representing Azerbaijan's intangible cultural heritage.
Armenian toponyms have completely replaced the historical names of Azerbaijani villages, a widespread campaign that goes beyond physical destruction. Furthermore, Armenia’s actions against Azerbaijani heritage include the misappropriation and alteration of cultural heritage sites. People falsely represent the Blue Mosque in Iravan, the only surviving mosque in Armenia, as a 'Persian mosque'. In reality, Azerbaijanis built the mosque and attended it for centuries.
As more than 100 Azerbaijani scientists and public figures warned in an appeal to UNESCO in 2022, the Tapabashi quarter in Iravan—the only remaining part of the historical old town—is now under threat of total annihilation. Armenia continues to demolish the last remaining traces of Azerbaijani culture through the so-called "reconstruction" project in the historically Azerbaijani Tapabashi quarter.
For years, Azerbaijani NGOs and the diaspora have appealed to UNESCO to react and condemn the deliberate state policy of annihilating the cultural heritage of Azerbaijani people in Armenia. The Azerbaijani civil society firmly holds the belief that UNESCO's urgent involvement is necessary to halt a member state's systematic policy of intentionally destroying cultural property and denying the historical and cultural roots of the Azerbaijani people's cultural heritage. We expect a principled and consistent approach from the organization in defending the principles and values it stands for.
In light of the above, we—the representatives of Azerbaijani NGOs—once again request UNESCO send a fact-finding mission to Armenia to monitor and to document the state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage there and to demand Armenia comply with its international obligations to protect Azerbaijani cultural heritage stemming from various international conventions, in particular UNESCO ones," the letter concluded.
The letter was signed by "Simurg" Azerbaijan Cultural Association, Western Azerbaijan Community, "Miras" Public Association for the Promotion of Cultural Heritage, "Promotion of Iravan Cultural Heritage" Public Union, "Zangezur" Societies Public Union, International Eurasia Press Fund, Azerbaijan Women's Rights Society, "Azerbaijan National Unit of the International Human Rights Society" Public Union, "Protection of Human Rights and Legality" Public Union, "Objective" Public Union for the Promotion of National Values, "Prioritet" Social Economic Research Center Public Union, “Sonmez Mashal” Cultural Relations Public Union, "ICOMOS Azerbaijan" Public Union, Jafar Jabbarli Public Association for the Development of Culture, Science and Education, "Culture Volunteers" Public Union,
Association for the Protection of Azerbaijan’s Cultural Heritage and Support for Tourism, Eternal Turan Book Fund, "Eurasia Migration Initiatives Platform" Public Union, Mirza Alakbar Sabir Foundation, "Zirva" Culture and Art Public Union, "Iz" Culture Development and Support Public Union, and "Muvakkil Law Center" Public Union.
UNESCO hasn't yet responded to the letter.
Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel