The State Committee on Religious Associations of the Republic of Azerbaijan adopted a statement objecting the resolution adopted by the European Parliament on March 10 this year, and the document was sent to the European Parliament.

The statement strongly condemned the resolution as a step towards questioning the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan recognized by international law, openly supporting aggressive separatism, as well as attempts to legitimize the Armenianization of Azerbaijan's historical, religious and cultural heritage in the liberated territories.

It was noted with regret that the document was prepared under the influence of Armenian lobby groups which did not embrace the real situation and reflected the false claims of the Armenians against the background of the real attitude of the Azerbaijani side to the historical and religious monuments, as well as gravestones.

At the same time it was noted that whilst the “Armenian temples” were illustrated with baseless statistics in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan, the fate of Azerbaijani historical-religious monuments was ignored in the resolution. Thus, in the liberated territories (65 of the 67 mosques were destroyed, the Aghdam Juma Mosque was partially preserved for military purposes, and the Upper Govharaga Mosque in Shusha was falsified under the guise of repairs and presented as a Persian mosque) and present-day Armenia, the ethnic cleansing and genocide, Armenianization of Azerbaijani toponyms, destruction of the hundreds of mosques and shrines as well as insulting religious values by keeping animals in them along with Gregorianization or destruction of the Christian heritage of our country - the Albanian Apostolic Church of the Caucasus Albania, inherited by the Albanian-Udi Christian religious community of the Republic of Azerbaijan, as well as Orthodox Christian temples were not deliberately touched upon. In general it is impossible to find a single expression denoting the historical-religious heritage of Azerbaijan which was subjected to vandalism, in any part of this resolution.

The Statement of the State Committee said that during occupation Armenian vandals showed no mercy to even cemeteries, in total more than 900 cemeteries were either completely destroyed or gravestones were broken, graves were exhumed, desecrated and looted. For 30 years Azerbaijani citizens were deprived of the opportunity to visit the graves of their relatives.

The statement of objection reiterated the fact that Armed Forces of Azerbaijan did not carry out any attacks on enemy civilian objects, as well as religious buildings during the 44-day Patriotic War which was repeatedly confirmed even by foreign journalists.

Immediately after the end of the military operations, announcement of the Azerbaijani government on restoration of all religious monuments destroyed by the Armenian Armed Forces in the liberated areas, start of the recovery process on the basis of “Great Return” program according to the instructions of the President Ilham Aliyev for preparation of socio-economic development plan of those territories were reflected. It was also noted that the historical and religious monuments in the territories liberated from Armenian occupation, as well as the whole country, belongs to the Azerbaijani heritage and their protection is the commitment of the Azerbaijani state, which has been repeatedly stated at the highest level from various positions.

In Shusha the restoration of the two churches, along with mosques was highlighted as a clear indication that Azerbaijan does not discriminate against monuments, but respects different cultures and religions, and sees all religious artefacts as part of its national and spiritual values.

In addition to the above-mentioned it was noted that Azerbaijan does not discriminate against its historical and cultural heritage on religious or ethnic grounds and is committed to international conventions, including the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, however the other side, on the contrary grossly violated the requirements of international norms and standards, the mentioned Convention, as well as Convention on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the 1992 European Convention for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage and the 1972 UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The Statement noted that agreement to send a UNESCO mission to Azerbaijan and Armenia that was reached at the video meeting of 4 February 2022 participated by President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, President of the Republic of France as chairing the European Union, President of the EU Council and Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia came as proof of the necessity of determining the condition of the cultural heritage of the Azerbaijani nation situated within the territory of Armenia and expressed its regret that the European Parliament for some reason did not address this issue at all.

In conclusion the State Committee once again strongly condemned the attempt by the European Parliament to spread Armenian backed biased claims and called to adoption of objective resolutions in the years to come.