MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st November, 2020) The issue of protecting monuments and shrines in Karabakh is very important, and it is necessary to involve UNICEF in the work in addition to UNESCO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
"I would like to say about the protection of historical monuments and religious shrines, both Azerbaijani and Armenian. This issue has an important moral human dimension. I believe that UNESCO's involvement is in great demand here. We also count on UNICEF's help to children and adolescents who are especially defenseless before the horrors of military conflicts," Putin said at a meeting on the Russian peacekeeping mission in Karabakh.
The president added that the Russian Foreign Ministry had received relevant instructions for active work in all these areas.
Putin said that his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, had promised to ensure unhindered access to monuments and shrines in Nagorno-Karabakh for both Azerbaijanis and Armenians.
"The same applies to objects of historical, cultural, religious heritage. I talked with Ilham Heydarovich [Aliyev], he also proceeds from the fact that the Azerbaijani authorities will take control of everything, provide access to these religious sites for representatives of the Armenian side, and, of course, Azerbaijani," Putin said.
He also called on Russian peacekeepers to establish contact with Armenians and Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh in order to prevent conflicts on domestic grounds and to ensure a stable situation in the regions left by the Armenian army.
"After the withdrawal of Armenian units from some regions, including, say, from Agdam, from Lachin, there still remain Armenian civilians. It is clear that our peacekeepers are on the line of separation," Putin said.
He noted that he knows about the good relations of the peacekeepers with both the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides.
"The people who occupy the positions vacated by the Armenian army � yes, of course, these are conflicting parties, but the conflict is over. Still, these are civilized people and, I know that their mood is generally benevolent. But we need to establish communication with both parties � in this case, with the Azerbaijani side � so that the situation in the regions of withdrawal is stable and so that it would create conditions for people of both nationalities to live together, without any conflicts in everyday life," the Russian president stressed.
