(MENAFN- Trend News Agency)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 5. The 214th session of
the UNESCO Executive Board is taking place in Paris and
Azerbaijan's Permanent Representative to UNESCO, elected to this
important body of UNESCO - the Executive Board with the broad
support of Member States Elman Abdullayev presented the national
statement of Azerbaijan at the session, Trend reports.
This meeting of the Executive Board is taking place at a time of
turmoil for the international community against the backdrop of a
serious deterioration in the situation in Ukraine and around it,
Abdullayev said.
“Azerbaijan expresses its deep regret that the efforts for a
peaceful settlement have not yet yielded results capable of
stopping the fighting. The increase in the number of civilian
casualties is of particular concern. We reaffirm the need for
strict adherence to international humanitarian law in order to
protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including cultural
heritage and educational institutions,” the permanent
representative said.
'Azerbaijan has been subjected to armed aggression by Armenia
for about 30 years. Over the past years, serious war crimes have
been committed, as well as crimes against humanity, the norms of
international law on the protection of cultural heritage during an
armed conflict have been grossly violated,” Abdullayev noted.
'Once quite prosperous Azerbaijani territories have been
destroyed. For many years, the Armenian government has pursued a
systematic policy of destroying, looting and misappropriating the
cultural heritage of Azerbaijan, both in the territories that it
held under occupation for 30 years, and in Armenia itself,' he
added.
Azerbaijan's representative said mines and the presence of
unexploded ordnance in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from
Armenian occupation pose a serious threat to the cultural heritage
of these lands, impede restoration work and delay the return of
civilians. As a result, mine explosions killed and injured several
civilians, as well as a reporter, Abdullayev said.
The Permanent Representative thanked the UNESCO Director-General
Audrey Azoulay for the statement condemning the deaths of
Azerbaijani reporters and reminded that Azerbaijani media
representatives Siraj Abishov and Maharram Ibrahimov died as a
result of a mine explosion on June 4, 2021 in the Kalbajar region
of Azerbaijan.
After the end of the armed conflict, Azerbaijan entered the
phase of post-conflict reconstruction, restoration and
reintegration, he noted.
According to Abdullayev, Azerbaijan is determined to properly
preserve, restore and put into operation all cultural and religious
monuments in the liberated territories, regardless of their origin.
Azerbaijan continues to cooperate with the international community,
including with the relevant specialized institutions and UN
agencies, in connection with the ongoing large-scale rehabilitation
and reconstruction efforts in the liberated territories, Abdullayev
said.
The Permanent Representative also expressed hope for UNESCO's
contribution in this direction.
'The Azerbaijani government is interested in conducting an
independent and impartial UNESCO technical mission to assess the
state of cultural heritage in the country. Our country is ready to
continue working in this direction without any delay and hopes that
there will be no further obstacles due to any additional
conditions. In this context, it is necessary to accelerate the
response of the organization to the proposals submitted by
Azerbaijan seven months ago - on August 19, 2021. Such a mission of
UNESCO should be carried out in full compliance with the
sovereignty and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan,' he
emphasized.
According to him, in addition to sending a UNESCO mission to the
liberated territories of Azerbaijan, it is extremely necessary for
the organization to assess the state of the cultural heritage of
Azerbaijan in Armenia.
'Azerbaijan is ready to make an effective contribution to the
work of the session. We highly appreciate the strengthening of the
role of UNESCO in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by
supporting and assisting countries through the Global Education
Coalition, which we are proud to join,” Abdullayev said.
Everyone knows about Azerbaijan's long-term partnership with
African countries. In this direction, our country also supports
UNESCO's global African priority and calls for paying special
attention to the needs of small developing island states,' he
noted.
Climate change, as one of the major global issues, continues to
pose a threat to World Heritage properties, he added.
'Azerbaijan actively supports UNESCO's initiatives in the sphere
of intercultural dialogue, in particular the UNESCO electronic
platform for intercultural dialogue, which launched in 2018 and
developed with the financial support of the Azerbaijani government.
Azerbaijan supports the active role of youth in the decision-making
process and we welcome the 12th UNESCO Youth Forum dedicated to the
development of a post-COVID-19 action plan,' Abdullayev said.
According to him, considering the growing importance of the
Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in international issues, Azerbaijan,
being a member of the UNESCO Executive Board, will strive to
strengthen the existing mechanism for coordinating the countries
participating in the NAM within this board.
Tags:
- Elman Abdullayev
- Azerbaijan
- Armenia and Azerbaijan
- UNESCO
- cultural heritage
- politics
- NAM
- Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
- UNESCO Committee for the protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflicts
- sustainable development goals
- partnership
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