Iran’s Cultural Heritage pleads to UNESCO on Azerbaijan de-Persianization

Young journalists club

News ID: 2376
Asia » Asia
Publish Date: 15:00 - 12 October 2013
Tehran, YJC. In a letter to UNESCO, the Cultural Heritage organization of Iran has warned against attempts by the Azerbaijani state to eliminate traces of the Persian language.

Mohammadali Najfi, Head of Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organization of Iran in a letter to the Director General of UNESCO Irina Bokova said "The de-Persianization policy of Azerbaijan has been afflicting the literary history and famous celebrities of Iran, the last instance of which was to remove the Persian poems of Nezami Ganjavi from his shrine in Azerbaijan.”

Najafi condemned attempts to further strip the building of tilework displaying Nezami’s poems in Persian as a sign of the genuine Persian origins of the building and the poet, stating "Such acts signify a non-cultural approach that disregards cultural proximity.”

He has called for immediate, decisive action by UNESCO to stop further damage to Persian cultural heritage in Azerbaijan and help repair the building in the original fashion.


Your Comment