"What I saw in Karabakh at the time — destroyed houses, buildings, villages and mined areas — horrified me," Miguel Ángel Moratinos, High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and UN Under-Secretary-General, said during his speech at the plenary session titled "Culture at the Center: Safe Pathways to a Common Future" at the 7th World Forum on Intercultural Dialogue held in Baku, APA reports.
He stated that what he saw in Karabakh was important in terms of conveying the truth about the situation Azerbaijan faced to the international community.
"I conveyed to the international community the truth I had seen with my own eyes in terms of respect for international law and political values," Moratinos said.
The High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations stated that what he saw in Karabakh had left a deep impression on him.
"As a representative of the international community, I expressed a very clear position regarding what happened in Karabakh. This marked the beginning of very important and lasting relations between the international community and the Azerbaijani side."
Moratinos stated that special attention should be paid to the role of culture and religious communities in ensuring lasting peace. According to him, religious heritage consists not only of mosques, churches, synagogues and other places of worship but also reflects the identity and national history of peoples.
"We want peace with sustainable culture. For this, concrete action must be taken," Moratinos emphasized.
He highly appreciated Azerbaijan's initiatives in the field of intercultural dialogue and thanked the Azerbaijani government for its activities in this area.
Note that Miguel Ángel Moratinos visited Azerbaijan's liberated territories, including Fuzuli, in 2021. During the visit, he stated that he was horrified by the destruction in the territories and the damage inflicted on historical, cultural, and religious heritage.
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