This week, following a six-week war, the last Armenian forces of a three-decade occupation have, under international supervision, returned to their own country.
This should be a time for reconciliation, healing, and respectful reconstruction. Instead, the international media rumbles with accusations that Azerbaijan now plans "cultural genocide" against Christian monuments and heritage.
The "evidence" for these claims — such as it exists — comes from Soviet times, when Azerbaijan was no more a free or independent state than any other part of the USSR. From Stalin's dynamiting of Orthodox Churches in Moscow to the demolition of Aleksandr NevskyCathedral in Azerbaijan's capital Bakuto the destruction of more than 25,000 mosques between 1917 and the 1970s — all across the Soviet world, the wilful destruction of religious monuments was state policy.
The opposite is the policy of modern-day Azerbaijan. Since independence in 1991, Azerbaijan has shown the world its commitment to the restoration of our multi-faith heritage. Baku's Armenian cathedral, damaged in the chaos of 1990, has been fully restored, now housing a library of some 5,000 precious Armenian manuscripts.
The head of the Armenian Church has been a welcome visitor to the cathedral. A new Catholic cathedral has been constructed on land donated by the government and opened by the pope. Old synagogues have been restored and re-opened, and new Jewish schools have been built.
Beyond our borders, Azerbaijan has funded and contributed to religious restoration projects ranging from the catacombs of the Vatican, through Romanesque churches in France, to the stained glass of Strasbourg Cathedral. That is why the world can and must trust my country's leadership: Our actions are proof of our words.
The administration in which I serve has publicly announced it will restore and rebuild both the Christian and Muslim heritage of this ravaged region — and we now welcome the announcement of UNESCO's involvement in this project. Rightly, this international partnership shows Azerbaijan's commitment to the difficult path of rebuilding the heritage and the diverse and peaceful society that the region once enjoyed.
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