Ambassador Christian Ter-Stepanian, Permanent Delegate of Armenia to UNESCO, delivered an address Monday during the plenary session of the UNESCO Executive Board, informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.

The ambassador reflected on the provocative actions carried out by Azerbaijan these days, which violate the vital rights of the Armenians of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh)—including the right to education.

Ambassador Ter-Stepanian expressed concern over the shelling of Armenian civilian infrastructure by the Azerbaijani armed forces on March 24 and 25 as well as their infiltration of the village of Parukh in Nagorno-Karabakh, and called on the international community to take measures to prevent the situation from deteriorating in the South Caucasus.

He stressed that the main goal of Azerbaijan's policy of violence and intimidation against the Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh is the implementation of ethnic cleansing.

Ter-Stepanian noted that for more than a year now, Azerbaijan has been blocking the carrying out of a UNESCO expert mission in Nagorno-Karabakh to witness on the spot the destruction of the Armenian cultural heritage and other acts of vandalism.

 Also, the ambassador reaffirmed the need to act quickly in the current situation, calling on the Director-General of UNESCO to continue her efforts to send an independent expert mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding areas.