Western Azerbaijan Community Appeals to UNESCO for Monitoring of Cultural Heritage in Armenia
27 March 2023
The Western Azerbaijan Community has sent a letter to UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, signed by the community's leadership and intellectuals, cultural and artistic figures, poets, and writers from Western Azerbaijan. The letter requests a fact-finding mission to Armenia to monitor the state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage there. The community was established in 1989 to protect the rights of Azerbaijanis expelled from the territory of present-day Armenia. The letter highlights that Azerbaijani historical and cultural heritage, including mosques and graveyards, were destroyed on a large scale in present-day Armenia. The community seeks UNESCO's support in restoring and preserving cultural heritage, and ensuring the cultural rights of Azerbaijanis to access and enjoy their heritage. The letter also calls on Armenia to fulfill its obligations under international law to restore, protect, and preserve Azerbaijani cultural heritage and property in Armenia. The Western Azerbaijan Community stands ready to collaborate with UNESCO to carry out activities aimed at assessing, restoring, preserving, and protecting Azerbaijani cultural heritage in Armenia. A copy of the letter was also sent to the President of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.