Artsakh's entire cultural heritage at risk of destruction, expert warns

April 18 is observed annually as the International Day for Monuments and Sites, whose establishment was approved by the 22nd UNESCO General Conference in 1983.

The aim of the International Day for Monuments and Sites is to encourage local communities and individuals throughout the world to consider the importance of cultural heritage to their lives, identities and communities, and to promote awareness of its diversity and vulnerability and the efforts required to protect and conserve it.

"Various conferences on the protection and conservation of cultural heritage are held on this day around the world. Meanwhile, in occupied Artsakh, the Azerbaijani regime is destroying civilizational values that are part of the world heritage. The entire cultural heritage of Artsakh is under the threat of destruction and appropriation,” Hovik Avanesov, Cultural Ombudsman of the Armenian Highlands, wrote on Facebook.

“On the International Day of Monuments and Sites, we are once again sounding the alarm that the world civilization is being destroyed in Artsakh on a daily basis. If no concrete measures are taken, the world will be deprived of unique cultural values," he added.