Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Azerbaijan on the (a) condition and (b) security of Armenian Christian (i) churches and (ii) other heritage sites in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The UK Government is clear that the preservation of religious and cultural sites in the region is an important issue and we take seriously reports of the destruction of churches or other sites of religious significance. We are aware of allegations from both Armenia and Azerbaijan that cultural and religious sites have been deliberately damaged over the course of the conflict. UK Ministers and the British Embassy in Baku have raised the topic of religious and cultural destruction with the Azerbaijani government consistently and at the most senior levels.