Efforts to discredit UNESCO continue in Azerbaijan.

Speaking Thursday at the international conference, entitled "The Role of UNESCO Conventions Concerning the Protection of Cultural Properties and Aspects of Improving Their Implementation," Azerbaijani minister of culture of Anar Karimov stated that Baku has allegedly petitioned to UNESCO several times to send a mission to the Nagorno-Karabakh territories currently controlled by Azerbaijan, but such a mission was never sent.

“This was also negatively accepted by Azerbaijan. UNESCO's failure to fulfill its technical mission for political reasons has caused severe damage to its reputation. Again, I want to call on UNESCO to fulfill its mandate,” Karimov said, Azerbaijani media reported.

The minister added that "the monitoring carried out in Azerbaijan’s territories liberated from the occupation have revealed deliberate destruction of the Azerbaijani cultural heritage."