The Armenian Foreign Ministry is trying to hide its illegal actions, making false conclusions from the statement of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture, Leyla Abdullayeva, spokesperson for the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, said, TurkicWorld reports.

“We would like to refresh the memory of the Armenian Foreign Ministry,” Abdullayeva said. “Armenia is a country which held part of the Azerbaijani territory under military occupation and carried out large-scale illegal activity on these lands, including urbicide, culturcide, and ecocide, during 30 years.”

The spokesperson added that Armenia razed nine Azerbaijani cities and hundreds of villages to the ground.

“Historical, cultural, and religious monuments in these territories have been destroyed and plundered,” Abdullayeva said.

Abdullayeva reminded that Armenia prevented the visit of the UNESCO delegation to the occupied territories for decades to conceal the targeted destruction in those territories, and this fact was indicated in the report on the activity of UNESCO, published in 2005.

"At the same time, Armenia completely destroyed the Azerbaijani cultural heritage on its territory,” the spokesperson added. “Armenia has violated the norms of international law, including humanitarian law, grossly violated the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the UNESCO 1954 and 1970 Conventions over the past 30 years. Armenia's vandalism was described in numerous documents and covered by international media outlets and independent experts.”

The spokesperson said that it is clear that the Armenian Foreign Ministry has drawn incorrect conclusions from the statements made by the Azerbaijani Ministry of Culture and is trying to disguise its illegal activity.

“However, the official structure of the neighboring country disregards that as opposed to Armenia, Azerbaijan does not have a biased attitude in connection with the historical and cultural heritage on religious and ethnic grounds,” Abdullayeva said. “Azerbaijan is an example of tolerance and cultural diversity worldwide.”

“We recommend the Armenian Foreign Ministry not to drive itself into an even more difficult and hopeless situation by spreading lies, fiction, and slander,” Abdullayeva added. “Armenia should try to demonstrate good intentions and deeds.”