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Minister: "UNESCO does not respond to our letter on removal of Fresca and icons from Khudavang monastery by Armenia"

02 December 2021 18:41 (UTC +04:00)

"Several religious-historical artifacts, as well as two Frescas, icons belonging to the 13th century were illegally taken from Khudavang monastery when Armenia handed over Kalbajar," Minister of Culture Anar Karimov told APA.

A. Karimov noted that it is contrary to norms of international rights and conventions, especially is a gross violation of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: "That is why we wrote a letter to the UNESCO in this regard immediately after Armenians left Kalbajar last year. We showed there with facts that Frescas were removed from walls, icons were taken. The interesting thing is that Armenians do not hide it. It is one of the indicator of disrespect to international law. We reflected it in the letter addressed to UNESCO. However, unfortunately, there is no reaction from UNESCO to such issues. We have not received a response regarding technical mission, it is already a year that negations are underway. We want this mission to take place, but there is no reaction. As well as there is no response regarding the Khudavang monastery. There are several reasons for it. This includes UNESCO’s double standards, being under influence of the Armenian lobby, and other reasons. However, as a result, no real reaction has been given to our appeals.”