As a result of the victory of the Azerbaijani Army in the Patriotic War, which lasted from September 27 to November 10, Kalbajar region was liberated from the Armenian occupation forces on November 25. According to the Ministry of Culture, when the occupying forces left the Kalbajar region, the Khudavang monastery complex was looted and the crosses, bells and other elements belonging to the complex were transported to Armenia. The recent reports in the Armenian media confirm this. It is reported that a sale-exhibition "From Dadivank to Yerevan" will be held on December 16 at the Museum of Folk Arts in the Armenian capital (https://bit.ly/3qXSesb).
The exhibition will feature Bibles, crosses, icons, souvenirs, as well as books and photo albums brought from the Dadivank (Khudavang) monastery complex. Culinary and confectionery products will also be sold to help Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians. The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Azerbaijan reiterates that the 1970 UNESCO Convention on Measures to Prohibit and Prevent the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Cultural Property, as well as the 1954 Hague Convention, The Convention for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in the Event of Armed Conflict obliges the occupier to take steps to prevent theft of property in the occupied territories. In particular, in the context of the occupation of Azerbaijani lands by Armenia, Article 9 of the Second Protocol to the Hague Convention prohibits the occupation of "occupied territories" by illegal trade in cultural property, eviction, alteration or destruction of cultural, historical or scientific evidence. detects the acquisition.
We state that the Ministry of Culture keeps this issue under strict control and international organizations are regularly informed about the illegal activities of the Armenian side, and measures will be taken to apply the necessary legal procedures in connection with such embezzlement. At the same time, we call on international organizations, especially UNESCO, to give a legal assessment to these facts and to investigate the war crimes committed by Armenia against the historical and cultural heritage of Azerbaijan. We would like to inform you that Khudavang monastery complex is one of the largest and most beautiful monuments of Christian architecture in the ancient Azerbaijani state of Caucasian Albania in the territory of Vang village of Kalbajar region. It should be noted that after the occupation of Kalbajar region by Armenia in 1993, the Khudavang monastery complex began to be presented to the world as an Armenian monument.