HE David MacAllister Chair, The European Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET)

From: Ara Abramyan

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador,

Founder of the Ararat Alliance Forum

 

Subject:

• Destruction of the cultural Christian heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh

• Imposition of sanctions against Azerbaijan, in accordance with the Resolution of the European Parliament dated 5.10.23

• Request to support the Project of the International Peace Zone in Nagorno-Karabakh

 

 

Dear Mr McAllister,

 

The Armenian people are grateful to the European Parliament, and in particular to the Foreign Affairs Committee you chair, for the Resolution of 5.10.23 condemning Azerbaijan’s violent takeover of Nagorno-Karabakh and the expulsion of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.

In this resolution, you rightly stated that this situation amounts to ethnic cleansing, demanded an investigation into the actions of Azerbaijani troops, which may constitute war crimes, and called for sanctions against Azerbaijani government officials. You also called on the EU to reduce its dependence on imports of Azerbaijani gas and stated that “should the situation not improve, consider suspending the application of the EU visa facilitation agreement with Azerbaijan.”

May I turn your attention to the fact that this tragic situation has not only not improved since you adopted this resolution 5 months ago, but has worsened significantly.

 

Azerbaijan not only failed to comply with the requests of the European Parliament, but continues to aggravate the situation.

 

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, in a television interview given in January of this year, called “international law the destiny of the weak,” which his country, as “one of the strongest in the world,” is not obliged to adhere to. Unfortunately, he backed up these irresponsible words with actions, embarking on the barbaric destruction of the Christian cultural heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) is a real open-air museum, thanks to more than 500 unique monuments of ancient and Christian culture located on its territory. (I sent the corresponding appeal to UNESCO at the beginning of February this year).

 

However, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Government have announced plans to create a working group for the “restoration of Albanian religious temples,” that is, an ahistorical change in the identity of the ancient Armenian religious and cultural monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh, through the barbaric erasure of ancient Armenian inscriptions and symbols from them.

 

This, in essence, is an act of state vandalism, comparable in its barbarity to the Taliban’s shooting of the Bamiyan Buddha statues in Afghanistan, and a civilizational challenge to all humanity.

 

This is also a direct disregard for a number of international documents, including the requirement issued by the International Court of Justice on December 7, 2021 for Azerbaijan to take the necessary measures to prevent all acts of vandalism committed against the Armenian cultural heritage and punish those responsible, and the call of the Pope from 10.15.2023 to protect the Christian shrines of Nagorno-Karabakh.

 

A clear illustration of how Baku deals with the cultural heritage of the Armenian people after their expulsion from its historical lands is the Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic, part of Azerbaijan, where by 2007 the destruction of the cultural and historical trace was finally completed and not only the indigenous Armenian population was driven away (and they made up 75 percent of the population before Azerbaijan’s independence), but also Armenian temples, museums, necropolises and cemeteries were totally destroyed. The same thing happened with 105 once-Armenian-populated villages, whose names were replaced with Azerbaijani ones, and all traces of the centuries-old residence of Armenians there were erased from the face of the earth.

 

Mr. McAllister, taking into account that the issue of preserving the Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh is not so much a matter of politics or geopolitics, but rather a universal problem, the issue of transferring the cultural heritage of humanity to future generations, I express hope that the European Parliament will put into action the mechanisms proposed in your Resolution dated 5.10.2023: will introduce sanctions against government officials of Azerbaijan and suspend the current Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy between the EU and Azerbaijan.

 

We all understand that conflicts and wars do not last forever, and we need to look for ways for good neighborly living in the region. Taking this into account, I ask your Committee to speak out in support of the international humanitarian Project, the implementation of which in Nagorno-Karabakh under the auspices of the European Union and the UN, plus security guarantees from Russia, the USA and France, will help heal the wounds of the conflict and prevent its re-ignition, will enable the indigenous Armenian population of Karabakh to return to their homes and live safely, while preserving the unique Christian and other historical sites of Karabakh, making them the property of the entire humanity.

 

We are talking about the creation on the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh of an “INTERNATIONAL INTER-FAITH PEACE PARK”, which will be a benefit for all parties and will allow humanism and justice to triumph.

 

For this Project:

 

* Azerbaijan, while maintaining its administrative power, will demonstrate to the whole world its respect for international law, for the rights of peaceful Armenians and for their cultural and spiritual heritage;

 

* Armenian refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh, who will return to their homeland, will not keep bitterness and resentment towards the people of Azerbaijan for generations;

 

* UNESCO will take control of all historical Christian sites of Nagorno-Karabakh;

 

* Azerbaijan, Armenia, UNESCO and non-governmental organizations will develop a program of spiritual pilgrimage and interreligious tourism to Nagorno-Karabakh. In addition to the ancient churches, new mosques, synagogues and Buddhist temples will be built there, which will turn Nagorno-Karabakh into a unique Interreligious Park, which will become a world cultural heritage;

 

*The international community will use the example of Azerbaijan and Armenia to illustrate how Hostility can be turned into Cooperation.

 

We ask you, Mr. McAllister, to use your authority so that your Committee and the European Parliament will respond to Azerbaijan’s continued policy of ignoring international law by putting into action the sanctions mechanism against Azerbaijan, as proposed in your resolution of October 5, 2023, and also express support the above-mentioned Project “INTERNATIONAL INTER-FAITH PEACE PARK OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH”.

 

Sincerely

Ara Abramyan,

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador,

Founder of the Ararat Alliance Forum