ArmInfo. Within the framework of his visit to Paris to participate in the event dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the celebrated French- Armenian filmmaker Henri Verneuil, RA Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Vahram Dumanyan met with UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay . According to the press service of the department, a number of issues of mutual interest were discussed during the meeting.
"I am sure that our mutually beneficial cooperation with UNESCO in various fields will continue to expand and will contribute to the implementation of new initiatives and ideas," Dumanyan said. The parties touched upon cooperation in the field of protection of the cultural heritage of the Republic of Artsakh, a visit of the UNESCO technical mission to Artsakh and adjacent territories. Vahram Dumanyan confirmed Armenia's full support for the fulfillment of the mission and thanked for giving due attention to this issue.
During the meeting, they also discussed cooperation in the framework of the "Reviving the Spirit of Mosul" initiative, as well as the protection and preservation of cultural heritage, especially in areas affected by the conflict. The Minister noted that a delegation of experts on the restoration of ancient manuscripts of Mosul, headed by Archbishop of Chaldean Church Mikhael Najib, visited Armenia last week, and expressed the hope that through the exchange of experience, he would contribute to the important work on the preservation of world culture. To note, back in December 2020, the UNESCO Deputy Director General for Culture said that Azerbaijan did not consent to the direction of the mission. The cultural and religious heritage of Artsakh, which is under threat of destruction, needs urgent attention of the international community in order to properly ensure its preservation and prevent cases of vandalism. Armenia has repeatedly declared its interest in the visit of UNESCO mission as soon as possible. At the same time, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, at a meeting with the newly appointed UN Resident Coordinator Vladanka Andreeva, tried to shift the responsibility for not allowing the UNESCO mission to the region to Armenia. According to him, it is Armenia that creates obstacles for the admission of experts to the region. It is noteworthy that on November 20, 2020, UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay announced the organization's readiness to send a mission to Karabakh to help restore the cultural and historical heritage of the region. And already in December last year, Assistant Director-General for Education, of UNESCO Ernesto Renato Ottone noted that the organization "so far expects only a response from Azerbaijan, so that UNESCO can continue to work with the direction of the mission in the field." In turn, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry, in a communique circulated on December 22, called on UNESCO not to politicize the issue of protecting cultural heritage in Karabakh and said that Baku "is open to a constructive dialogue to discuss the details of organizing the mission."
The Russian Foreign Ministry has also repeatedly stated that Moscow is counting on the visit of a UNESCO mission to Nagorno-Karabakh in the near future. However, the issue is deliberately dragged out by the Azerbaijani side, and against this background, acts of vandalism are being committed in the territories of Nagorno-Karabakh, which are under the control of Azerbaijan, and Armenian cultural and historical monuments are being destroyed.