Baku, Azerbaijan, June 10

Trend:

Public association "Azerbaijani community of the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan" has made another appeal to the international community regarding the historical, cultural and religious heritage that is being destroyed in the Azerbaijani territories occupied by Armenia, Trend reports referring to the association.

The video message filmed in English tells about the Armenian church in Baku, which by the decision of the Azerbaijani government is included in the List "National Registration of Historic Monuments in Azerbaijan".

The video message emphasizes the adherence of the Azerbaijani people to the traditions of multiculturalism and notes that in the center of Baku the Armenian church and the literature relating to it has been preserved.

"On the contrary, in the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and in the adjacent districts, historical, cultural, religious monuments are destroyed, stone inscriptions on ancient mosques are being changed and forged. Armenians even misappropriated an Orthodox church built for Russian soldiers in the nineteenth century in Shusha, changing its architectural appearance," said the statement.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding districts.