Ukrainian Ambassador to Vatican: Azerbaijan's religious monuments destroyed during occupation

"Speaking of Azerbaijan, the general thesis is that it is a state where no hatred and misunderstanding exist between different ethnic groups and religions. This is a living example of how every nation, every religion can interact with each other," newly appointed Ukrainian Ambassador to the Vatican Andrei Yurash.

"Unfortunately, I have never been to Azerbaijan, but I know a lot about this country. For example, I can say that Baku is the standard of friendly and peaceful coexistence. Azerbaijan has national communities of different ethnic groups, and all of them have felt very comfortable for centuries," he added.

Yurash expressed confidence that Azerbaijan would extend the long-standing tradition of understanding a slightly different neighbor to the liberated territories:

"A neighbor may speak another language and pray differently, but they still remain neighbors. At the same time, it is necessary to convince the world community. In this sense, the work will fall on the press because you have to show everything. After all, sometimes the other side raises this or that issue. It is necessary to document what Azerbaijan has done in order to prove that such allegations are unfounded and show the situation in reality. For example, after the liberation of the territories, we saw the condition of the infrastructure there. Also, various religious and cultural monuments reflecting the history and traditions of Azerbaijan were destroyed. We've all seen that. I am confident that we will soon see the results of the restoration work on the site of these ruins. In the future, cultural and religious integration should be demonstrated at the level of creating a mechanism of tolerance between specific communities living together."

Andrei Yurash, who was appointed Ukraine's new ambassador to the Vatican by President Volodymyr Zelensky two days ago, has previously held various positions in the Cabinet of Ministers and is an international expert on interreligious and interethnic issues.