On 22 December, the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs called UNESCO “not to politicise” the protection of cultural heritage in its Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding areas that were transferred under effective Azerbaijani control from the 9 November statement, reported Trend. 

The MFA’s statement came after the Assistant UNESCO Director-General Ernesto Ottone said that the UN agency was awaiting Azerbaijan’s response regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh mission. Ottone later added: “The authorities of Azerbaijan have been approached several times without success so far. Every passing week makes the assessment of the situation concerning cultural property more difficult, not least due to the weather which is expected to become harsher in the coming weeks. We are therefore expecting Baku to respond without delay so that the constructive discussions held over recent weeks can be turned into action.” 

The Azerbaijani MFA stated that such press releases by UNESCO did not correspond to the spirit of cooperation between Azerbaijan and the UN agency. The Azerbaijani MFA also stressed that during the 30 years of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Azerbaijani appeals to UNESCO to investigate war crimes, such as destruction, misappropriation of our cultural heritage, change of its essence, as well as illegal transportation of cultural values from our land have been ignored and that the UNESCO Secretariat has not shown determination in this regard.  

The ministry also reiterated that UNESCO had been repeatedly informed that Azerbaijan was considering UNESCO’s proposal to send a mission to the Nagorno-Karabakh region and surrounding areas. “It should be noted that a number of factors, including security, weather and difficult terrain, must be taken into account when organising a UNESCO mission to the region to assess the damage to our cultural property. As it is known, the territories of Azerbaijan were mined by Armenia during the occupation. And as the Armenian army withdrew from our occupied territories, it mined the area around historical and cultural monuments and turned the area into a dangerous zone,” the statement concluded.