Azernews.Az

By Vugar Khalilov

Deputy Chairman of Azerbaijan’s State Committee on Religious Associations Gunduz Ismayilov has stated that the country is working on the restoration of mosques and religious sites in the liberated lands, Azernews reports.

"Comprehensive reconstruction projects of mosques and places of worship are presently carried out in Azerbaijan's liberated areas," Ismayilov stated.

Ismayilov noted that there are a total of 67 mosques in the liberated lands of Azerbaijan.

He added except for Aghdam's Juma and the Yukhari Govhar Agha mosques in Shusha, which were partially ruined, the remaining 65 mosques were completely destroyed by Armenia.

"Comprehensive reconstruction projects of mosques and places of worship are presently carried out in Azerbaijan's liberated areas," Ismayilov stated.

Armenians have destroyed virtually all religious and historical monuments in the previously occupied territories of Azerbaijan during the 30-year occupation. Some 65 out of 67 mosques were destroyed, Aghdam's Juma mosque was partially preserved due to its use by the Armenian armed forces for military purposes, and the Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque in Shusha was presented as a "Persian" mosque after the so-called reconstruction.

Along with humanitarian terror, Armenia committed systematic vandalism against Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Karabakh by erasing historical Azerbaijani toponyms, destroying hundreds of historical and cultural monuments, mosques, and other shrines, desecrating religious values, misappropriating ancient Albanian churches, and presenting them as Armenian.

Nearly 900 cemeteries in the liberated lands were completely destroyed, tombstones were broken, and graves were excavated with the remains desecrated. For the past 30 years, Azerbaijani citizens have been denied the right to visit their loved ones' graves.

Armenia committed ethnic-cultural genocide as well as ethnic cleansing against Azerbaijanis. There were no Azerbaijanis left in Armenia as a result of the mass deportation of Azerbaijanis from their ancestral lands in the early 20th century. Over 250,000 Azerbaijanis were expelled from their native lands and became refugees as a result of the final deportation in 1988 alone.

By pursuing a policy of both ethnic and cultural genocide, Armenia has purposefully erased all traces of Azerbaijanis, the historical and ancient residents of these territories, plundered, destroyed, embezzled, and distorted the Azerbaijani people's cultural legacy. At the same time, ancient place names in these areas were changed to Armenian ones.

For instance, along with other cases, the Blue Mosque, the Gala Mosque, the Shah Abbas Mosque, the Tapabashi Mosque, the Zal Khan Mosque, the Sartib Khan Mosque, the Haji Novruzali Bay Mosque, the Damirbulagh Mosque, the Haji Jafar Bay Mosque, the Rajab Pasha Mosque, the Mohammad Sartib Khan Mosque, the Haji Inam Mosque and more than 300 other mosques located in Armenia were deliberately destroyed, misappropriated or used for other purposes in the early 20th century. Only the Damirbulagh Mosque functioned as intended until 1988, but it has now been completely demolished and replaced by a high-rise building.

Over 500 Azerbaijani cemeteries in Armenia, such as Aghadada, Ashaghi Shorja, Gullubulagh, and Saral have been destroyed. The tomb of great Azerbaijani poet Ashig Alasgar, whose tombstone was erected in his native village in the ancient Goycha district, was also destroyed.

In general, Armenia has deliberately destroyed thousands of Azerbaijani cultural heritage sites, which testifies to Armenia’s intolerance towards the Azerbaijani people, as well as an insult to all humanity.

All this proves that Armenia does not recognize any universal values and its impunity for all these illegal acts conveys a wrong message to the world community.

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