Mehriban Aliyeva: "Hundreds of historical, architectural monuments have been destroyed as a result of Armenian occupation"

“Azerbaijan’s devotion to the values and ideals of UNESCO goes beyond its national borders. In the last ten years our activity on preservation of the World Cultural Heritage has covered a wide geography,” said First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva as she addressed the opening ceremony of the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Report informs citing AzerTag.

“However, wars and military conflicts have always represented a serious threat to cultural heritage of humanity. As a result of military aggression and gross violation of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions, Armenia continues to occupy today almost 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. One million of Azerbaijanis have become refugees or internally displaced persons. Hundreds of historical, architectural monuments, museums, mosques and other religious sights have been destroyed or seriously damaged. This is why Azerbaijan is very much interested in the effective implementation of relevant international conventions on the protection of cultural property. I believe that there is still much to do in this field and UNESCO has an important role to fulfil in this regard,” First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva said.