Armenia’s Acting Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Ara Khzmalyan received Paul Gavan, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Rapporteur on Migration, Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons, and Mark Neville, PACE Committee on Migration Secretary.
Stressing that the Armenian people are experiencing one of the most difficult stages in their history, Khzmalyan thanked PACE for their support in the post-war period. In particular, the Acting Deputy Minister referred to the recent PACE resolution on Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), in which, in addition to human rights violations, the issue of protection of Armenian historical and cultural monuments in the territories under the control of Azerbaijan was raised separately.
Khzmalyan informed the PACE delegates that as a result of war unleashed on September 27, 2020 against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), more than 2,000 Armenian historical and cultural monuments, as well as 10 museums (8 state and 2 private) with about 20,000 exhibits, remained under the control of Azerbaijan. Moreover, cultural monuments were targeted and fired upon during the entire battles.
Khzmalyan expressed concern over the threat to the Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the territories under the control of Azerbaijan, taking into consideration the decades-long anti-Armenian policy pursued by that country and the targeted destruction of the Armenian heritage.
The Acting Deputy Minister stated that Azerbaijan creates artificial obstacles in terms of monitoring visits to assess the current state of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the occupied territories, including the recommendations of authoritative international organizations.
“The most vivid case was the rejection of the monitoring mission by UNESCO. The problem is further complicated by the fact that Azerbaijan is not a member of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), which makes it impossible to cooperate in the professional arena as well,” he said. The danger of the destruction of the Armenian historical and cultural heritage does not refer only to the Armenian culture, because in the face of the Armenian cultural heritage we are dealing with pan-European Christian values. In that context the destruction of the Armenian trace also threatens the pan-European cultural heritage.
Khzmalyan especially noted that the Armenian side expects the active support of European partners in the preservation of historical and cultural heritage. The Acting Deputy Minister of Education and Science, Culture and Sports emphasized that the videos and photos available on the Internet prove that the state policy of annihilation of the Armenian identity continues in Azerbaijan, including the transformation of the dome of St. Ghazanchetsots Church in Shushi and attempts to present Dadivank as a non-Armenian church.
The European delegates noted that a report on the aftermath of the war is being prepared, which will be presented to parliamentarians from all 47 PACE member states at its September session. PACE Rapporteur on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons Paul Gavan is going to visit Azerbaijan, too, to prepare a report. He expressed concern that he had not had the opportunity to visit Artsakh.
In his turn, Khzmalyan stated that the Armenian side has always shown a constructive position in connection with the visit of the PACE delegation, as well as other international delegations to Artsakh.
An exchange of views took place at the end of the meeting.
