Azerbaijan Elected to UNESCO Cultural Property Committee Amid Ongoing Heritage Destruction

Horizon Weekly – Azerbaijan has been elected to the Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation (ICPRCP) for the 2025–2029 term, during the 43rd session of the UNESCO General Conference held in Samarkand, according to Azerbaijani media reports citing the country’s foreign ministry.

While official Baku has portrayed the election as international recognition of its “active role” in safeguarding cultural heritage, the decision has drawn sharp criticism and raised serious concerns about UNESCO’s credibility. Azerbaijan’s record stands in stark contradiction to the committee’s mission: in recent years, the country has systematically destroyed or altered Armenian cultural heritage sites in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) following the 2020 war and the 2023 mass depopulation of the region’s Armenian population.

Numerous reports by international experts and independent watchdogs have documented the desecration of Armenian churches, khachkars (stone crosses), and cemeteries in territories now under Azerbaijani control. Baku has also pursued an aggressive policy of historical revisionism, denying and erasing centuries of Armenian presence from these lands by rebranding ancient monuments as “Caucasian Albanian” or “Azerbaijani.”

The ICPRCP’s stated role is to promote the return or restitution of cultural property through bilateral dialogue and international cooperation, offering non-binding recommendations to resolve disputes and encourage fair settlements where the 1970 UNESCO Convention does not directly apply. However, Azerbaijan’s inclusion in this body—at a time when it stands accused of cultural erasure—highlights a troubling inconsistency between UNESCO’s ideals and its political choices, and risks further undermining efforts to preserve endangered heritage in conflict zones.