The Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun said that Armenian forces tried to destroy Turkish and Islamic cultural treasures in Azerbaijani lands they once occupied, adding, "All international organizations, especially UNESCO, should focus their attention here without hypocrisy."
In Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabakh region, attendees at a meeting of top information and media ministers and officials of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) visited Agdam, a city liberated last fall from Armenian occupation.
Visiting the ghost town in the wake of the 30-year occupation were Hikmet Hajiyev, Assistant to Azerbaijan’s president, along with Kyrgyz Culture, Information, Sports and Youth Policy Minister Kairat Imanaliev, Uzbekistan Presidency Information and Mass Communications Agency Director Asadjon Khodjaev, Kazakh Vice Information and Social Development Minister Askhat Oralov, and Hungarian State Secretary for Security Policy Peter Sztaray.
The Turkish delegation, headed by the Presidency's Director of Communications Fahrettin Altun, also took part in the visit. Anadolu Agency (AA) Chairman and Director General Serdar Karagöz was also part of the delegation.
Speaking to members of the press after the visit, Altun said that seeing the lands made him realize even more clearly how triumphant Azerbaijan’s victory in Nagorno-Karabakh was.
Underlining that the Karabakh victory was a great one for Azerbaijan, the region, and Türkiye, Altun stated that the 30-year occupation was lifted thanks to President Ilham Aliyev's steadfast stance and that Türkiye, under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, supported this justified struggle.
Altun said that on the one hand, they were proud to be right, but also saddened to see the sad state of the city lying in ruins.
"We saw brutality and barbarism here. Such a level of barbarism has never been seen before,” he said.
“As such barbarism was taking place, throughout this situation we saw the world and the international community take a hypocritical stance. Cultural treasures were destroyed here. However, the organisations tasked with safeguarding the world's cultural treasures remained silent. They stuck their heads in the sand. They were oblivious to what was going on here. These cultural treasures were destroyed to eradicate all traces of Turkishness and Islam. But they did not succeed and will not succeed because these lands are the lands of Turks and Islam. Therefore, the tyranny of the tyrants and their barbaric policies counted for nothing. They annihilated a city. They inflicted a sequence of torturous acts. Whatever happened, now justice has been served. Azerbaijan, the legitimate owner of these lands, has regained them. With the permission of Allah, one million of our Azerbaijani sisters and brothers will return to these lands."
Saying that the process of reconstruction in the areas liberated from occupation would begin, Altun said:
"Türkiye will be fully engaged in this restoration process, along with our public institutions and organizations, as well as our private sector, with its vast experience. During his visit to Baku, our President stated quite clearly and precisely, 'We want to be the doves of peace in this region.' On the one hand, the occupation in this region has ended; we have effectively made the peace lasting. On the other hand, as true actors of this region, we have shown that we will never again allow such an occupation to take place. We have built its infrastructure and will continue to do so. First and foremost, the infrastructure problems here must be completely resolved, and the reconstruction process must carry on. Furthermore, the transportation issue must be fully addressed. Also, the economic infrastructure must be in place. This area will once again become a living, vibrant hub. So will Agdam and Shusha. It will turn into a global destination. On this issue, we are committed to supporting our Azerbaijani sisters and brothers with all our strength and efforts. From the beginning, our President has encouraged all our institutions and organizations to support this process. God willing, we will see this process through. By banding together and through our joint efforts, we will help these areas develop."
Altun decried how international organisations remained unresponsive to the devastation caused by the Armenians, adding, "All international organisations, especially UNESCO, should focus their attention here without hypocrisy. An occupation took place here; there was barbarism and oppression, and treasures of humanity were destroyed. We have witnessed all this here and acknowledged it. They should stop being hypocrites now and come here to acknowledge these facts. You truly cannot hide a spear in a sack. They will never be able to hide these truths".