UNESCO’s positive response to the Western Azerbaijan Community is important in terms of not distorting the history of the region, the Community spokesperson, Ulviyya Zulfikar, told Report, News.Az reports.

The spokesperson said the Western Azerbaijan Community keeps carrying out its activities on a global scale to ensure the restoration of the rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from the territory of present-day Armenia and achieve the triumphant of justice for the heritage of Azerbaijanis.

“Regarding this, two days ago, UNESCO sent the second official response to the Community. Earlier, the Community repeated the request sent to this institution by the Azerbaijani community, by sending a letter to Armenia requesting the fact-finding mission regarding our tangible heritage, as well as the tangible and intangible cultural heritage of Western Azerbaijanis. Providing information about the inclusion of the art of ashiq in UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2009, the Community expressed its concern over the damage inflicted on our heritage as a result of the crimes against humanity committed against our compatriots. This letter was also positively responded to by UNESCO,” the spokesperson said.

“The destruction of the cultural heritage belonging to a territory or a nation means damage to all humanity because in this case a certain section of human history is destroyed in a biased manner. Since the mentioned cases, i.e. the protection of the world's tangible and intangible cultural heritage, are directly included in the mandate of UNESCO, the institution has sent a response letter to our community, stating that it will take appropriate steps in accordance with the call of our organization in the field of cultural heritage protection,” she added.

U. Zulfikar emphasized the importance of UNESCO’s response in terms of protecting the cultural heritage of Azerbaijanis and not distorting the history of the region.

“Hundreds of mosques, dozens of caravanserais, fortresses, historical monuments, stone carvings, as well as about five hundred cemeteries are either destroyed or about to be destroyed on the territory of present-day Armenia. This is an injustice and a crime against humanity. The destroyed monuments of Western Azerbaijan belong not only to us but also to the world heritage, therefore these monuments should be owned on a global scale and should not be allowed to be completely erased from the earth,” she said.

The spokesperson added that the Western Azerbaijan Community will continue its activities to protect the heritage of Azerbaijanis and use all possible political and legal means to ensure the return of Azerbaijanis expelled from the territory of present-day Armenia to their homes.

News.Az