Letter from Armenia's FM to Unesco

17/12/05
Panorama

DEAR DIRECTOR GENERAL

December 16, 2005

Koichiro Matsuura
Director General
UNESCOParis

Dear Director General,

I wish to call your attention to an act of great cultural and political significance. At this moment, Azerbaijani soldiers, supported by arms and equipment, are destroying the remnants of historically and religiously significant headstones in a medieval Armenian cemetery in Nakhichevan, Azerbaijan.

This area, which is situated between Armenia and Iran was home to a majority Armenian population for generations. The cemetery in question held more than 10,000 individually carved, artistically unique headstones called Stone Crosses – khachkars. The Azerbaijani government began their destruction in the 20th century, continued with great force in 2002, and during these last three days has resumed this work with a vengeance – to attempt to wipe out traces of Armenian presence on those lands.

These acts of vandalism and violence, this callous demonstration of malice and intolerance comes at a time when the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the international community at large are extolling the virtues of preserving our common patrimony.

Director General, it is with a great sense of anger and regret that I write this letter. I do so, however, hopeful that the ire and disapproval of the international community will be brought to bear on Azerbaijan in order that they cease from carrying out these acts which are tantamount to ethnic cleansing – only this time, there are no people left, and they have resorted to cleansing the memory of those people.

I urge you to use your office to put a stop to what amounts to destroying our common cultural heritage. Sincerely, Vartan Oskanian

Note: Above are excerpts from the article. The full article appears here. Clarifications and comments by me are contained in {}. Deletions are marked by [...]. The bold emphasis is mine.