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Abbas Ganbay

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"The Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again tried to speculate on the issue of the protection of cultural monuments. Instead of talking about sending a UNESCO mission to the territory of Azerbaijan, the Armenian side should accept such a mission on its territory."

According to Azernews, it was said in the statement of the Western Azerbaijan Community.

It was noted that the community has repeatedly sent a request to UNESCO to send a mission to Armenia to monitor the condition of Azerbaijani monuments in Armenia:

"According to our information, UNESCO has sent a relevant message to the Armenian government regarding our request. However, as Armenia has not agreed, this mission has not yet been finalized.

The actions committed by Armenia violate the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in Times of War, the Convention for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Western Azerbaijan Community believes that Armenia's refusal to accept the UNESCO mission, its refusal to engage in dialogue with the Community for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, as well as the continued demonstrative destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage, including the Tepebashi quarter in Yerevan, is also a violation of the International Court of Justice's decision of 7 December 2021.

This is a gross violation: "Recall that the International Court of Justice in its judgment requires Armenia to "immediately cease the destruction of Azerbaijani cultural heritage sites. and examples of ethnic and cultural values and the policy of erasing Azerbaijani cultural traces".".

Western Azerbaijan Community demands that the Armenian government immediately stop the destruction of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage, including the historical quarter of Tepebashi in Yerevan, and restore the destroyed Azerbaijani cultural monuments. To ensure the originality and authenticity of the monuments during restoration, the active participation of the Western Azerbaijani Community in this process is necessary.

The Government of Armenia should initiate a dialogue with the West Azerbaijani community on this issue and accept a UNESCO mission to this effect".

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