By Nazrin Gadimova

Famous across the globe for its peculiar model of tolerance, Azerbaijan has been suffering from vandalism policy pursued by neighboring Armenia over the long time.

Armenia occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijan's internationally recognized territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven adjacent regions, after laying territorial claims against its South Caucasus neighbor that had caused a lengthy war in the early 1990s.

More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and nearly one million were displaced as a result of the war.

While the conflict remains unsolved, Armenia continues its destructive activity aimed at falsification of Azerbaijan’s cultural heritage in the occupied territories.

The Armenian occupiers have completely destroyed hundreds of historical and cultural monuments belonging to Azerbaijan, as Armenian media reports, shootings from the satellite, numerous reports issued by the OSCE missions and other sources testify. Armenian media and other sources confirm that almost all native toponyms of historical Azerbaijani places in the occupied territories were altered.

Such pearls of cultural heritage as Yukhary and Ashaghy Govharagha mosques with their madrasahs dating back to 18-19th centuries, the mausoleum of Molla Panah Vagif, Azerbaijan’s famous poet, as well as the house of Khurshidbanu Natavan, country’s great poetess, have been destroyed, burnt and pillaged by the Armenian barbarians.

Alleged ‘reconstruction’ and ‘development’ projects carried out in Shusha and other occupied towns and settlements throughout the occupied territories, as well as numerous ‘archaeological excavations’ are carried out with the sole purpose of removing any signs of their Azerbaijani cultural and historical roots and substantiating the policy of territorial expansionism.

A variety of ancient Albanian scripts, wall designs and crosses have been replaced by Armenian symbols. In addition, a number of mosques are being used as storehouses. Buildings, as well as unique museums located in occupied Azerbaijani lands, have been either destroyed or used under new museums, that Armenians claim to be their belonging.

In total, Armenians have destroyed 927 libraries in the occupied Azerbaijani territories as part of the purposeful policy to annihilate the history and culture of the Land of Fire. Moreover, nine mosques, 44 shrines, 464 historical monuments and museums, over 40,000 museum pieces were looted, destroyed and crushed on the occupied territories.

The damages caused by Armenia during the years of occupation of Azerbaijani lands hit about $818 billion.

The destruction and damaging historical and cultural monuments by the Armenian invaders in the occupied territories of Azerbaijan contradict the 1954 Hague convention on preservation of cultural values during armed conflicts, the 1992 European convention on preservation of archeological heritage, and the 1972 UNESCO convention on preservation of world cultural and natural heritage.

While Armenia, a mono-ethnic and mono-religious state, pursues a policy of vandalism, Azerbaijan continues to share its experience in religious and cultural tolerance with the international community through implementation of concrete and efficient policies.

Azerbaijan demonstrates its respect for cultural diversity and universal values, contributing to a strengthening of dialogue between cultures and civilizations. This is evidenced in the restoration of monuments in the park of the Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, and the Berlin City Palace, which was destroyed in WWII, as well as medieval manuscripts in the Vatican Archives and the Roman Catacombs in the Vatican, and the repair of the Philosophers' Room in the Rome Capitoline Museum.

Baku has repeatedly called on the international community to oblige Armenia to stop the destruction and looting of the cultural heritage and sacred sites in those territories, including the archeological, cultural and religious monuments.

The preservation of historical and cultural monuments in the Armenian-occupied territory of Azerbaijan, as memories of the nation's centuries-old history, should be treated as a matter of international importance, since the Azerbaijani people's cultural heritage is an integral part of the world culture.

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Nazrin Gadimova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @NazrinGadimova

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