10 November 2023 20:40

On 7-10 November 2023, the delegation headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elnur Mammadov paid a working visit to the Republic of France to participate in the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference.

By a decision unanimously adopted on the first day of the session, Azerbaijan was elected as one of the Vice-Presidents of the General Conference.

Within the framework of the visit, Deputy Minister Elnur Mammadov delivered a speech during the general policy debates of the General Conference, as well as held a number of bilateral meetings.

Speaking with a national statement on 10 November, Deputy Minister Elnur Mammadov stated that our country is one of the main partners of the Organization and regularly promotes intercultural and interreligious dialogue through important global initiatives.

In his speech, touching upon the issue of the complete destruction by Armenia, on the basis of ethnic hatred against the Azerbaijani people, of historical, cultural and religious monuments existing both in the Garabagh region of our country and in the territories of Armenia, the Deputy Minister stated that in this regard, our country has repeatedly appealed to UNESCO and other international organizations.

It was emphasized with regret that despite Azerbaijan’s numerous calls for urgent measures to be taken to ensure the protection of the existing cultural heritage and for the organization of relevant fact-finding missions, this was not possible as a result of the obstacles created by the Armenian side.

In his speech, the Deputy Minister also spoke about the large-scale reconstruction and restoration works carried out by our country in the post-conflict period, and stated that Azerbaijan attaches special importance to the restoration of existing cultural and religious sites in the region, and that numerous steps have been taken in this direction.

Within the framework of the visit, Deputy Minister Elnur Mammadov also held bilateral meetings with UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and Assistant Director-General for Social and Human Sciences Gabriela Ramos.

During the meetings, an exchange of views was conducted on Azerbaijan-UNESCO relations, the existing cooperation agenda, including prospects for cooperation in the field of social and human sciences of the Organization, and numerous initiatives put forward by our country.

The meetings also included detailed information on the destruction by Armenia of historical, cultural and religious monuments existing both in the territories of Azerbaijan and Armenia. In this regard, a call was made to send a relevant fact-finding mission to Armenia in order to assess the current state of Azerbaijani cultural heritage.

It was stated that Armenia’s allegations that cultural and historical monuments in the region are under threat after the anti-terror measures carried out by Azerbaijan are groundless, and that this was also confirmed by the two UN missions conducted in the region.

During the meeting, the importance of the “Baku Process” initiative on intercultural dialogue was emphasized.

It was stated that UNESCO is a key supporter and partner of the “Baku Process,” as well as the World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue, and hope was expressed that this cooperation will continue.

During the 42nd session of the General Conference, which will continue until 22 November 2023, our country will be represented by various institutions in relevant fields.