YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 5, ARMENPRESS: The Delegation of Armenia, using its right of reply, has made a statement in response to the statement of the Delegation of Azerbaijan during the 39th session of the General Conference, being held in Paris, UNESCO Headquarters, the foreign ministry of Armenia told ARMENPRESS.

The statement, in particular, reads as follows: “The statement of Azerbaijan is another attempt to distort the reality and mislead those present here. The true aggressor is Azerbaijan that organized pogroms of the Armenian population of Baku and Sumgait, then initiated a large-scale war against the population of Artsakh in response to peaceful calls for implementation of the right to self-determination. Azerbaijan continues to misuse the provisions of the UN Security Council relevant Resolutions. In reality, none of the Resolutions identify Armenia as a party to the conflict. On the other hand, Azerbaijan is the one who has failed to comply with the main demand of unconditional cessation of all hostilities. The authorities of Armenia and Artsakh, without any distinction, pursue a policy of preserving the cultural heritage of Christians, Muslims and members of other religions. Several war-damaged mosques are also being renovated in Artsakh. One should not confuse the heritage damaged or destroyed as a consequence of the hostilities with the deliberate destruction of Armenian cultural heritage in time of peace in Azerbaijan on a state level. In Armenia, referred to as “monoethic country” by Azerbaijan, there are many ethnic and religious minorities which are free to exercise their right to own culture and language, as well as to have elected representatives at the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. The official policy of Azerbaijan of anti-Armenian hatred, which a number of international organizations dealing with the issues of xenophobia has alerted about, as well as the impunity for crimes committed against Armenians is growing into a dangerous “culture”. The case of axe-murderer Ramil Safarov of his glorification and heroization by the leadership of Azerbaijan is a sad point in this regard”.