Great Return

The Shahbulag castle in Aghdam. It was built in 1751-1752.
During Armenian occupation of the city, an attempt was made to falsify the monument as “ancient Armenian”

Supreme Commander-In-Chief in the Patriotic War that started on September 27, 2020. Karabakh and the city of Shusha, a cradle of Azerbaijani culture, were liberated in the 44-day war following their occupation by Armenian armed forces for about 30 years.
The Patriotic War ended in a glorious victory. Azer- baijan put an end to the injustice that was merely ob- served by the world community for many years, having reinstated not only its own territorial integrity but also international law. Azerbaijanis witnessed the bitter ram- ifications of vandalism defying the values of humanity as soon as they set foot on their land cleansed off the Armenian intruders. In addition to residential homes, historical and cultural monuments dating back many centuries and left behind by our forefathers, including fortresses, tombs, mosques and churches, house mu- seums, caravanserais and other historical structures, as well as cemeteries, were levelled.
It is worth mentioning that Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Culture has appealed to UNESCO and ICESCO, the UN Alliance of Civilizations, as well as the culture ministries of 150 countries, over the hostile acts committed by Ar- menia with regard to the Azerbaijani cultural heritage in our historical land during the occupation period. The appeals called for international condemnation of our ill-wishing neighbor’s actions and taking action in accordance with the requirements of relevant conven- tions. At the same time, the Azerbaijani government is taking security measures in the territories liberated from occupation and demining activities are underway. Azerbaijan is also ready to host a UNESCO mission in the
liberated territories. A pertinent query has been sent to UNESCO in this regard.
Consistent efforts are also being made to inform the world community of Armenia’s hostile actions in Karabakh. Delegations of numerous countries and in- ternational organizations, representatives of diplomatic missions accredited to Azerbaijan and foreign media outlets visit the freed Azerbaijani regions and witness firsthand the consequences of the 30-year-long occu- pation of these territories. Major world media publish news reports and air programs concerning the barbaric actions committed against the Azerbaijani culture.

In accordance with President Ilham Aliyev’s decree “On organization of temporary special governance in the territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan liberated from occupation”, issued on October 29, 2020, Ministry of Culture representatives continue their monitoring ac- tivities aimed at preliminary inventory control and safe- guarding of historical and cultural facilities in the liberat- ed territories. A total of 314 historical and cultural mon- uments registered by the state have been examined to date (by June). Moreover, monitoring was carried out upon 125 facilities (newly discovered monuments) with historical, architectural and archaeological features that had not undergone state registration in those territo- ries. The monitoring led to a conclusion that most of the reviewed historical and cultural monuments and facili- ties with historical, architectural and archaeological fea- tures had been completely destroyed by the invaders.