Azad Jafarli, head of the State Service for the Protection, Development, and Restoration of Cultural Heritage under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan, led a delegation to Paris to attend the 17th session of the Committee on the Protection of Cultural Property During Armed Conflict. The adoption of the report on the Secretariat’s activities, the adoption of amendments to the monitoring and control mechanisms for the implementation of the Second Protocol of the Hague Convention of 1954, the protection of cultural resources in Ukraine, and other issues are on the agenda for the committee’s next session.
During the discussions, the head of the State Service delivered a speech in which he emphasized that the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan has conducted monitoring for the purpose of an initial inventory and protection of the historical and cultural monuments destroyed by the occupying state in the territories liberated from occupation, and that measures have been taken to restore them. He emphasized that the main impediment to the ongoing monitoring process is mining in territories liberated from occupation by the Republic of Armenia.
At the same time, the Civil Service official stated that he is willing to share Azerbaijan’s post-conflict measures and experience with other countries regarding the protection of historical and cultural monuments. He emphasized that the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan is especially concerned about the protection of cultural resources during armed conflicts. The active interest of our country in updating the Committee’s monitoring and control mechanisms, as well as the organization of an international conference on the importance of implementing UNESCO conventions in the field of cultural resource protection in Baku on December 6–9 this year, are examples of the importance Azerbaijan attaches to this topic.
The session was also attended by the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to UNESCO. At the end of the session, a conclusion was reached based on the decisions made on the agenda items, and information about the next session and consultations to be held over the next year was provided.
