BAKU, Azerbaijan, Oct. 11
Trend:
Armenia is purposefully destroying Azerbaijan’s historical and cultural heritage in the occupied territories, the Turkish government told Trend.
“Armenia aims to erase the centuries-old traces of the Azerbaijanis from the occupied territories,” the Turkish government added.
"There are hundreds of facts testifying how the Armenians destroyed not only the mosques, but also the cemeteries of Azerbaijanis in Aghdam in Shusha districts, as well as in all the occupied territories," the Turkish government said.
The Turkish government stressed that Armenia’s actions are nothing more than terror against historical values.
"There are also facts testifying that the Armenians are taking out historical values from the occupied territories and selling them on the black market in the European countries," the Turkish government said.
Armenia’s aggression and acts of terror were also directed against the Azerbaijani religious and historical monuments.
According to the Azerbaijani State Committee on Religious Associations, there are more than 900 state-registered historical and cultural monuments in the occupied Azerbaijani territories.
In fact, there were thousands of historical monuments that were not included in this list. According to the available information, there were more than 1,500 unregistered monuments, dozens of monuments of international importance, over 900 cemeteries.
Thus, there were 403 historical and religious monuments, including 67 mosques, 144 temples, 192 sanctuaries in the occupied territories.
Armenians destroy such artifacts to wipe out Azerbaijan’s historical past. All monuments with signs of national identity, ancient history, national and religious traditions of the Azerbaijani people are completely demolished. The Armenians are trying to misappropriate them.
The monuments located in the occupied territories are being destroyed. They are being changed under the pretext of renovation.
Such actions, which assessed in international conventions as crimes against humanity, are acts of aggression against common human culture.
Under the pretext of repair and restoration work, the Armenians greatly changed the interior of the Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha, the pearl of Karabakh, damaged the artistic and aesthetic values of the historical monument, claiming that this monument did not belong to the Azerbaijani people.
All this testifies to the policy of "alienation and misappropriation" of Armenians. The whole world knows about the fact of using the Juma mosque in Aghdam as a piggery, which was burned down a year after the occupation of Aghdam.
The Armenians misappropriated the historical Albanian Christian churches located in the occupied territories and had nothing to do with the Armenian church. Their architectural features were changed in the Armenian way and were subsequently declared as Armenian ones.