UNESCO mission to Artsakh postponed again․ Baku again blames the organization

For more than a year after the 44-day Artsakh war, Baku has been obstructing the entry of an independent UNESCO mission into the occupied territories of Artsakh. In particular, today the Minister of Culture of Azerbaijan Anar Kerimov told Azerbaijani media that negotiations with the organization over the visit continue. He said that, allegedly, there is no response from the organization yet.

“UNESCO has already gone on vacation. We were in constant contact with them before the holidays. Unfortunately, we did not receive the desired response. It makes us think that the organization is politically biased,” Kerimov said, continuing to voice accusations against the organization. He added that they did not want “an international organization that has gained respect in the world to be politicized, to apply biased approaches.”

Apparently, Azerbaijan has made new unfounded demands, making the visit of the UNESCO mission impossible. The Azerbaijani authorities continue their destructive policy, hindering the mission’s visit to Artsakh under various pretexts. Months ago, Kerimov said that negotiations on the visit of the UNESCO mission are underway, noting that the conditions of Azerbaijan and the technical details of the organization of the mission have been submitted to UNESCO.

Azerbaijan is doing everything possible to prevent the entry of the UNESCO mission to Artsakh and its occupied territories after the trilateral statement of the leaders of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia on November 9. The OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs have made statements on the need to preserve the Armenian cultural heritage, on the involvement of UNESCO in the work, which Baku denies, continuing to make various accusations against the organization.