Azerbaijan razes to ground entire historic center of Stepanakert

YEREVAN, October 21. /ARKA/. In October, the Azerbaijani administration in Stepanakert, the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh, demolished the historic center of the city, former Karabakh Minister of Culture, Youth and Tourism Sergey Shahverdyan said in a Facebook post.

“No less than 6.5 hectares of residential buildings, including historic buildings, a Soviet-era apartment building and public buildings, were razed to the ground,” Shahverdyan said.

He attached a map based on a video released yesterday. It was filmed from a modern residential building that houses apartments of employees of the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry.

“This means that the video was released with the aim of demoralizing the people of Artsakh (Karabakh), depriving us of the will and hope to return. The huge rush may be a sign that something is happening behind the international scenes that is unknown to us,” Shahverdyan said.

After the signing of a statement on November 9, 2020 between the leaders of Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan on the cessation of hostilities in Artsakh, the Armenian side repeatedly expressed concern about the safety of churches and other cultural and historical monuments in the territories that came under the control of Azerbaijan.

Yerevan hoped for the participation of Russia, as well as UNESCO, in preventing vandalism and the destruction of Christian shrines. However, the UNESCO leadership has still not been able to obtain permission from the Azerbaijani authorities to visit the occupied territories of Artsakh. -0-