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Abulfas Garayev: â€œVandalism against the monuments of Islamic culture in the occupied Azerbaijani territories should be condemnedâ€

13 October 2009 10:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku. Ulkar Gasimova â€“ APA. â€œProtection of the Islamic heritage is the assessment of our history and today,â€ Culture and Tourism Minister Abulfas Garayev said at the 6th Conference of Culture Ministers of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). He said Azerbaijani state is taking measures to protect all the monuments belonging to the Islamic culture, examples of historical heritage.
â€œUnfortunately, we can not take these measures in the entire territory of our country, as 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories have been occupied by Armenia and all Islamic museums, mosques, monuments have been destroyed. I want to underline that these cultural monuments do not belong to Azerbaijan only, it belongs to the entire Islamic world, humanity. This is the aggression against the human culture. We should approach these issues from this aspect and take joint measures. So, vandalism against the monuments of Islamic culture in Nagorno Karabakh and the surrounding regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia should be condemned and the final document of the conference should cover certain items about it. I am sure that Islamic countries will demonstrate solidarity in accepting this proposal,â€ he said.

The Minister said our country is developing and this development is observed in all spheres.
â€œAzerbaijani state is carrying out reforms in the field of culture. All cultural establishments of our country are being overhauled, they are being supplied with the most modern technologies. Today we are marking a very important event in the history of Islamic culture and cultural life of Islamic peoples. I believe that the issues discussed here will open a new window in the life of Muslim peoples and the decisions will contribute to deepening of cooperation among our countries,â€ he said.