Karabakh parliament in exile condemns Azerbaijan’s vandalistic policy

The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) National Assembly in exile issued a statement condemning the vandalistic policy of Azerbaijan. The statement reads as follows:

"After the large-scale war unleashed by Azerbaijan in Artsakh and the complete occupation, many medieval [Armenian] spiritual centers, education complexes and memorials, buildings and structures of historical and cultural values of Artsakh are endangered.

Despite its own high-profile statements about peace on various international platforms, Azerbaijan is openly attempting to bring its genocidal plans against the Armenian people to the endpoint. It is mainly expressed by the desecration, destruction of the monuments that are symbols of the Armenian Christian historical and cultural, liberation struggle and state-building, or by the naming of so-called ‘[Caucasus] Albanian origin.’

The latest manifestations of vandalism [by Azerbaijan] are the desecration of the Saint John's Cathedral of the Mother of God in [Artsakh capital] Stepanakert, the destruction to the ground of the buildings of the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh and the Union of Freedom Fighters.

According to Article 4 of the 1954 Hague Convention on values during armed conflicts, any act of vandalism, theft, robbery, misappropriation, hostilities or reprisals against cultural heritage is prohibited. Although several calls were made [to Azerbaijan] by UNESCO to stop the destruction of Artsakh's [Armenian] historical and cultural heritage and there were promises to send a mission, no mission has arrived to this day in Artsakh under the pretext of creating artificial obstacles by Azerbaijan, and the indifference and inattention of the international community have given freedom to the vandalism of the aggressor, becoming the trigger of new wars in the region.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh condemns the barbaric actions of the Azerbaijani authorities to eliminate the Armenian traces and demands from the human rights organizations, the RA [(Republic of Armenia)] authorities to present the facts of all anti-cultural activities of Azerbaijan one by one to the competent international bodies and courts, giving the issue an international resonance".