Armenia raises the issue of destruction of Artsakh’s heritage by Azerbaijan with UNESCO

Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Artak Apitonyan had a video conversation with the head of the Office of the UNESCO Director-General Nikola Kasianides, Public Radio of Armenia reports.

The interlocutors touched upon the issue of protection of the Armenian historical and religious heritage in the Nagorno Karabakh conflict zone, and the possibility of sending a UNESCO fact-finding mission to Artsakh.

The Deputy Foreign Minister stressed the urgency of taking steps to protect the Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage in the territories under the control of Azerbaijan, taking into account the steps taken by Azerbaijan to deliberately destroy, desecrate and distort the Armenian monuments.

Artak Apitonyan touched upon the recent manifestations of the Azerbaijani aggression against the Armenian cultural and religious heritage. In particular, it was mentioned that a video was circulated on the Internet by the BBC news service today, where it is clear that the Armenian Church of Surb Astvatsatsin near Mekhakavan (Jebrail) settlement was completely destroyed.

Referring to the preparations for the fact-finding mission, the Deputy Foreign Minister expressed strong concern over Azerbaijan’s policy of hindering the effective involvement of UNESCO.

It was stressed that Azerbaijan’s attempts to manipulate the mission and unnecessarily politicize it are completely unacceptable.