Leyla Abdullayeva responds to Armenian Foreign Ministry

Armenia has wiped out nine Azerbaijani cities and hundreds of villages, said Spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Leyla Abdullayeva.

"As a reminder for the Armenian Foreign Ministry: Armenia is a country that has been occupying part of Azerbaijan for nearly 30 years, committing large-scale illegal activities in these territories, including urbicide, culturicide, and ecocide," she said, as quoted by Report.

"Armenia has wiped out nine Azerbaijani cities and hundreds of villages. Historical, cultural, and religious monuments have been destroyed and looted in these areas.

"For decades, Armenia has prevented the visit of a UNESCO mission to the occupied territories in order to conceal the purposeful destruction it has committed. This fact is clearly reflected in the activity report published by UNESCO in 2005.

"At the same time, Armenia has wholly eliminated the cultural heritage of Azerbaijan on its territory.

"Armenia acted in violation of the international law, humanitarian law, the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the 1954 and 1970 UNESCO Conventions over the past 30 years.

"The results of the above-mentioned vandalism of Armenia have been widely documented and covered by the international media and independent experts.

"Against the background of all this, it seems that the Armenian Foreign Ministry intends to cover up its illegal actions by drawing false conclusions from the statement of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture.

"However, the official body of the neighboring country forgets that, unlike Armenia, Azerbaijan does not discriminate against its historical and cultural heritage on religious and ethnic grounds. Azerbaijan is an example of tolerance and cultural diversity all over the world.

"Our recommendation to the Armenian Foreign Ministry is that it should not drive itself into a deeper and hopeless situation by collecting false and fabricated stones but should try to show good intentions and deeds by getting them off its chest," Abdullayeva said.