By Azernews

By Laman Ismayilova

The head of Azerbaijan's permanent delegation to UNESCO, Elman Abdullayev, has read out Azerbaijan's statement at the 215th session of the UNESCO Executive Council, Azernews reports, citing Azertac.

The statement underlines that civil societies and NGOs have repeatedly applied for dispatching a UNESCO mission to assess the current state of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage in the territory of Armenia.

Elman Abdullayev also touched upon Azerbaijan's long-standing partnership with UNESCO which spans 30 years.

Azerbaijan and UNESCO have been enjoying successful cooperation since 1992.

In 2003, the parties signed a framework agreement on cooperation in the areas of culture, science, education, and communication, which allowed Azerbaijan to become one of the donors of UNESCO.

After the 214th session of the Executive Council, the cooperation between Azerbaijan and UNESCO deepened.

The statement noted Azerbaijan's contribution to the activities of the institution. Elman Abdullayev informed the session participants about the 7th International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sports (MINEPS VII) to be held in Baku in March 2023.

In his speech, Elman Abdullayev stressed Azerbaijan's contributions to the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and noted that the country highly appreciates UNESCO's activities against racism and all kinds of discrimination.

Recalling that Azerbaijan was subjected to large-scale aggression for almost 30 years, it was said that during the Armenian occupation, the occupied territories of Azerbaijan were completely destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people, who were displaced from their native lands, were deprived of their cultural rights.

During these years, Azerbaijan repeatedly appealed to UNESCO to send a technical mission to the region, but due to Armenia's non-constructive position, such missions could not be realized.

In conclusion, it was brought to attention that two draft decisions were proposed for the agenda of the 215th session of the Executive Council on the Baku Process, founded in 2008, and the other on the MINEPS VII conference.