(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 27. The Western
Azerbaijan Community sent a letter to UNESCO Director General
Audrey Azoulay, trend reports.
The appeal was signed by the leadership of the Community, as
well as intellectuals, cultural and artistic figures, poets and
writers from Western Azerbaijan.
“Being deeply concerned with the destruction of Azerbaijani
cultural heritage in Armenia, and echoing previous appeals from the
Azerbaijani society to UNESCO, we are writing this letter to kindly
ask you to send a fact-finding mission to Armenia to monitor the
state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage there,” the letter said.
According to the letter, the Western Azerbaijan Community, which
was established in 1989, deals with the protection of the rights of
Azerbaijanis expelled from the territory of nowadays Armenia.
“All Azerbaijanis were expelled from Armenia, where they once
constituted the absolute majority. Azerbaijani historical and
cultural heritage, including mosques and graveyards in nowadays
Armenia, were destroyed on a large scale,” the letter noted.“The
Government of Armenia destroyed and damaged Azerbaijani tangible
and intangible cultural heritage therein by direct actions and
conducting propaganda designed to promote or incite ethnic
discrimination directed against Azerbaijanis.”
In the letter, the Community explained that the destruction took
place before, during and in the aftermath of the military
aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan.
“Most of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia was
destroyed in a pre-planned manner outside military hostilities. In
other words, the driving force for the destruction of Azerbaijani
cultural heritage has been the systematic policy of racial
discrimination by the Government of Armenia aimed at creating a
mono-ethnic and mono-cultural space, a notorious objective that has
unfortunately become the reality in this country,” the letter
further said.
Besides, according to the letter, Armenia's wrongdoing against
Azerbaijani heritage also includes misappropriation and alteration
of the pieces of heritage.
“The only surviving mosque in Armenia, the Blue Mosque in
capital Iravan, is misrepresented as 'a Persian mosque', in a
fallacious and offensive manner. In fact, the mosque was built and
for centuries had been attended by Azerbaijanis, who used to
constitute the absolute majority in the city,” the letter reminded.
“Moreover, presenting the mosque as belonging to one ethnicity is
an attack on our religion, which does not divide its places of
worship according to ethnicities, but rather unites people
regardless of race or ethnicity.”
Armenia continues to obliterate the last remaining traces of
Azerbaijani culture. The Tapabashi quarter of Irevan city is the
only piece of the historical old town of Irevan that has survived
to this day. This quarter keeps in its memory the historical code
of Irevan from the 17th century to the present day, the letter also
noted.
“The Tapabashi neighborhood, historically inhabited by
Azerbaijanis, is now under threat of total annihilation. Armenian
authorities are about to completely demolish the quarter,” the
letter emphasized.
“Armenia's discrimination and ethnic cleansing have made a
devastating impact on Azerbaijani intangible heritage as well. For
example, the Goycha Ashiq school, the backbone of the Art of
Azerbaijani Ashiq, itself inscribed on the UNESCO Representative
List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, took an
irreplaceable loss due to Armenia's ethnic cleansing against
Azerbaijanis of the Goycha district, in nowadays Armenia,” the
letter said.
The Government of Armenia even demonstratively destroyed the
monument and the grave of Ashiq Alasgar, a prominent representative
of the Art of Azerbaijani Ashiq, in his native Goycha, the letter
stressed.
“The destruction of and damage to Azerbaijani cultural heritage
by Armenia has made a detrimental impact on the enjoyment of our
cultural rights, in particular, the right of everyone to access and
enjoy cultural heritage,” the letter pointed out.
According to the letter, the violation of this right threatens
stability, social cohesion and cultural identity, and constitutes
an aggravating factor in regional security and a major obstacle to
dialogue, peace and reconciliation.
“We champion the peaceful return of the expelled Azerbaijanis
from Armenia in safety and dignity, and after the return ensuring
the full enjoyment, as a collective or as individuals, of all human
rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the Charter of the
United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
international human rights law,” the letter noted.“This requires
inter alia making Armenia fulfill its obligations under
international law to restore, protect and preserve Azerbaijani
cultural heritage and property in Armenia.”
Protection of cultural heritage is not only a requirement of
international humanitarian law but also a fundamental human right
as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
letter said.
“Enjoying cultural heritage is central to the concept of
dignified return of expelled people. Ensuring cultural rights, i.e.
human creativity in all its diversity and the conditions for it to
be exercised, developed, made accessible, preserved and protected,
is part of our fundamental rights, which Armenia has the obligation
to ensure prior to, during and after our return to our homes,” the
letter also emphasized.“Therefore, we seek the support of UNESCO
in restoring and preserving our cultural heritage.”
Sending a fact-finding mission to Armenia to assess the state of
Azerbaijani cultural heritage in this country, as well as the level
of compliance of Armenia with its international obligations
relating to the protection of cultural heritage and cultural
rights, would be an invaluable contribution to reversing the damage
to the cultural heritage of mankind and thereby attaining the
lasting peace, the letter pointed out.
“Our organization stands ready to collaborate with UNESCO in
carrying out activities aimed at assessing, restoring, preserving
and protecting Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia, and
ensuring the cultural rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from Armenia
to access and enjoy their cultural heritage,” concluded the
letter.
A copy of the letter was sent to the President of the UN Human
Rights Council, and the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of
cultural rights.