UN, UNESCO and Council of Europe must respond to cultural genocide  committed by Azerbaijan in Artsakh - NKR Ministry of Culture 

ArmInfo. The statements of the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan regarding the dismantling of the monument to the great Armenian marine painter Ivan Aivazovsky in Stepanakert are illegal,  manipulative and do not correspond to reality. This is stated in the  statement of the Ministry of Culture of Artsakh.

The department recalled that the monument to Aivazovsky was erected  in 2021 as part of a legal and transparent initiative implemented  jointly with the state bodies of the Republic of Artsakh, the Russian  community of Artsakh and the peacekeeping mission of the Russian  Federation.

"The claim that the monument was allegedly erected without the  "permission" of the Azerbaijani authorities and, therefore, was  dismantled is a groundless attempt to justify an act of cultural  vandalism.

It should be clearly emphasized that the independent Republic of  Artsakh made its decisions with full sovereign rights and was not  obliged to receive any "permission" from the leadership of the  neighboring state," the NKR Ministry of Culture noted.

The department also noted that after the forced deportation of the  population of Artsakh in September 2023, the Azerbaijani occupation  administration began the targeted systematic destruction of Armenian  historical and cultural monuments. These include monuments to Stepan  Shahumyan, Alexander Myasnikyan, as well as dozens of monuments  dedicated to the Great Patriotic War, cultural centers, museums,  churches and medieval cemeteries.

"It is noteworthy that the name Stepanakert was given to the city by  the Baku authorities in 1923 in honor of the Armenian revolutionary,  leader of the Baku Commissars Stepan Shahumyan. Therefore, all  allegations about "illegally" erected Armenian monuments have neither  historical nor legal basis.

International organizations, including the UN and UNESCO, the Council  of Europe and other international institutions working in the field  of human rights protection, must take immediate measures to counter  the recorded and ongoing manifestations of cultural genocide. In the  face of clear violations of international law, inconsistency is  tantamount to participation in a cultural crime," the NKR Ministry of  Culture concluded.

The monument by sculptor Salavat Shcherbakov (the author of the  Moscow monument to Heydar Aliyev) disappeared on July 30 - the  artist's birthday. The Agency for Tourism and Culture Development of  Atsakh reported that the monument, erected in 2021, was demolished.  The agency called the demolition another example of the policy of  eliminating the Armenian cultural trace in the region. After the  scandal broke out, Azerbaijan declared that "the monument was erected  by Armenians without the permission of Azerbaijanis, dedicated to an  Armenian, which gives the right to demolish it."