MFA_Report_on_the_occupied_territories_March_2016_1

the Lachyn Museum of History, the Aghdam Museum of History and the Bread Museum and
others have also been destroyed, pillaged, and their exhibits put on sale in different countries. A
collection of ancient gold, silver and bronze artefacts discovered in the occupied Lachyn district,
which date back to the 4th – 1st centuries BC, was misappropriated by the History Museum of
Armenia, a State-run museum. 562
Analysis of the period of more than 20 years since the establishment of a ceasefire in 1994
demonstrates that armed hostilities have not destroyed Azerbaijani monuments to the extent to
which this has been subsequently done by the Armenian side.
XVII. Promoting of the occupied territories as a “tourist destination” and encouraging/
organizing illegal visits to/from these territories
Armenia facilitates and organises visits to foreign countries by the agents of the subordinate
separatist regime by issuing them Armenian passports, including diplomatic ones, to circumvent
stringent visa requirements and unlawfully benefit from the simplified procedures for obtaining
visas or from visa free travelling. Under whatever farfetched purpose of travel, they pursue
the obvious goal of misleading and deceiving the international community and distracting the
attention from the continued unlawful occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan by Armenia,
which was achieved by the use of force, mass atrocities, ethnic cleansing and other flagrant
violations of international law.
Such visits only serve to propagate the unlawful separatist regime. The developments over the
past years have shown that the lack of adequate reaction to provocative steps of the Armenian
side only contributes to its growing sense of impunity and permissiveness, encourages Armenia
to hold on to its uncompromising position in the peace process.
Armenia continues to exploit tourism as a tool for its annexationist policies. In particular, tourism
is being abused by Armenia to propagate the illegal separatist entity and generate financial
means to consolidate the results of the occupation. 563 On a number of occasions, international
tourism fairs and other events were used to mislead the general public by promoting the
occupied territories of Azerbaijan as a “tourist destination”, in particular through creating booths
and disseminating materials about the illegal separatist entity established by Armenia in those
territories. 564 Under the influence of distorted information, some tourist companies include the
Nagorno-Karabakh region into their travel itineraries, whereas this region is the internationally
recognized territory of Azerbaijan. As a result, some foreign citizens unaware of the sensitive
situation are purposefully deceived by such “promotion campaigns” ended up in the occupied
territories and thus are dragged into this dangerous plot.
562
See “Armenia, Nagorno Karabakh Debate Ownership of Ancient Treasure”, EurasiaNet.org, 22 April 2011,.
563
See “Artsakh was presented at the international tourism exhibition ‘In Tour Expo – 2015’”, Karabakh.travel, 13 April 2015,
.
564
See “Armenia and Artsakh participate at TTG Incontri tourism exhibition”, Arka.am, 10 October 2014, http://arka.am/en/news/tourism/
armenia_and_artsakh_participate_at_ttg_incontri_tourism_exhibition/; “Artsakh presented at Paris international tourism expo in separate
pavilion”, Armenpress.am, 01 October 2014, http://armenpress.am/eng/news/778416/artsakh-presented-at-paris-international-tourismexpo-in-separate-pavilion.html;
“Armenia and Artsakh To Be Represented at World Travel Market 2013”, Hetq.am¸ 04 November 2013,
.
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