(The Anatolian Times) - ''Armenia has destroyed thousands of pieces of historical and cultural heritage in the occupied Azerbaijani territories,'' said Associate Prof. Senol Kantarci from the Suleyman Demirel University Department of Ataturk's Principles and History of Turkish Revolution.
In an exclusive interview with the A.A, Kantarci said, ''there were 500 historical and more than 100 archeological monuments in the region occupied by Armenia. Also, there were 22 museums, 4 painting galleries, 927 libraries containing 4.6 million books and manuscripts, 808 clubs, 10 culture and entertainment parks in the region. Unfortunately, most of them were destroyed.''
''Armenians have committed a crime against humanity by destroying historical and cultural heritage. The humanity will never forget such a large-scale cultural genocide,'' he said, reports Trend.
Kantarci indicated, ''also, Armenians have been using Azykh Cave, in which the most ancient traces of life and human activity were found, for military purposes.''
''The international public opinion has been ignoring Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territories while the United Nations and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) still remain silent against destruction of those works. I believe that future generations will curse those who deal with the baseless allegations of Armenian genocide instead of such a destruction,'' Kantarci added.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijani Consul General in the eastern Turkish city of Kars Hasan Sultanoglu said, ''Armenians have committed the most serious crime against humanity on the occupied territories. They devastated historical and cultural heritage. Now, they have begun burning down buildings. Flames have still been rising hundreds of meters into the sky in the region that is under Armenian occupation. They even ruined our graveyards. The world should do something to stop them.''