Armenian Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Ara Khzmalyan today, in Yerevan, received the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) Rapporteur on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons Paul Cavan and PACE Migration Committee Secretary Mark Neville.

Khzmalyan, according to a statement released by his office, informed the PACE delegates that in 2020, as a result of the war unleashed against Artsakh last year, more than 2,000 Armenian historical and cultural monuments, as well as ten museums (8 state and 2 private) with about 20,000 exhibits, remain under the control of Azerbaijan.

He said that during the war, the Azerbaijani military targeted cultural monuments.

Khzmalyan expressed his concern that Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the territories under the control of Azerbaijan are threatened given the decades-long anti-Armenian policy pursued by Azerbaijan - the targeted destruction of the Armenian heritage.

Khzmalyan said that Azerbaijan creates artificial obstacles in terms of monitoring visits to assess the current state of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the occupied territories, including the recommendations of authoritative international organizations.

"The most telling case was the rejection of the monitoring mission by UNESCO. The problem is further complicated by the fact that Azerbaijan is not a member of the International Council on Monuments (ICOMOS), which makes it impossible to cooperate in the professional arena," Khzmalyan said.