Baku, UNESCO discuss issue of UNESCO’s mission to occupied regions of Artsakh, including Shushi

Azerbaijan and UNESCO are discussing the organization of a mission in the occupied territories of Artsakh, such as Akna (Aghdam) and Varanda (Fizuli) regions, as well as Shushi, Azerbaijani media quoted head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry Lelya Abdullah as saying. Her statement says that in recent months, a number of meetings between Azerbaijan and UNESCO on the issue have taken place in the form of video conferences. “The last meeting took place on June 21, during which Azerbaijan again expressed its readiness to accept the UNESCO mission and called on the organization to speed up the process. In this context, the issue of the visit of the UNESCO mission to Aghdam and Fizuli regions, as well as the city of Shushi, was discussed,” Abdullayev said. She also said an agreement had been reached with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on sending a mission to Azerbaijan. “The response of the two organizations is expected to complete the work,” she said.

It is noteworthy that after the November 9, 2020 ceasefire Azerbaijan had been s obstructing the entry of the UNESCO mission into the occupied territories of Artsakh. The Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage are in risk of being destructed.. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have made statements about the need to preserve the Armenian cultural heritage and the involvement of UNESCO in the work, which was denied by Baku, and various accusations have been leveled against the organization.