BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 9. Armenia’s calls
to send an assessment mission to Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region are
nothing more than hypocrisy,Spokesperson for the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs Aykhan Hajizada said, Trend reports.
“We strongly reject the Armenian Foreign Minister’s baseless and
deceitful allegations against Azerbaijan during his speech of
November 9, 2023 at the 42nd session of the General Conference of
UNESCO in Paris.
It is absolutely unacceptable for Armenia to hypocritically
continue to accuse Azerbaijan of conducting an alleged “ethnic
cleansing” against Armenians who voluntarily moved to Armenia, and
attempt to misuse international platforms to this end, while it
committed massacres and crimes against humanity and violated
fundamental rights of almost 1 million Azerbaijanis during the 30
years of its military aggression.
It is apparent that these baseless allegations openly contradict
the reports and statements of UN agencies visiting the region, as
well as those which are actively working in Armenia.
Concerning the claims that cultural and historical monuments are
allegedly in danger in Azerbaijan’s Karabakh region, it is
completely unreasonable for Armenia to accuse Azerbaijan in this
matter, while Armenia itself is known for deliberately destroying,
appropriating, changing, and illegally transporting the Azerbaijani
cultural heritage in Armenia proper, as well as in the formerly
occupied territories of Azerbaijan.
The Armenian Minister’s inappropriate reference to the ruling of
the International Court of Justice in this regard is nothing more
than an attempt to distort the Court decisions.
The historical and religious monuments located in the sovereign
territories of Azerbaijan are our national and cultural heritage
and are being protected regardless of their secular or religious
origins.
Armenia’s calls for an assessment mission to Azerbaijan’s
Karabakh region from an international platform such as UNESCO,
which is responsible for cultural, religious, and historical
preservation, are nothing more than a hypocrisy. Azerbaijan has
frequently requested the implementation of evaluation missions,
this has not been possible owing to the obstacles put in place by
Armenia. UNESCO itself has confirmed this fact in its 2005
report.
We are once again witnessing Armenia’s smear campaign against
Azerbaijan continue by its false and slanderous rhetoric from
numerous international platforms, intent on undermining the chances
of the peace deal.
We hope that Armenia will not miss this historic opportunity for
peace in the region and will not hinder efforts for regional
stability and economic development, which will ultimately be to the
benefit of itself,” Aykhan Hajizada said.
