Friday, September 30 2022 11:21

ArmInfo.France is for the initiative to dispatch a fact- finding UNESCO mission to the region, French Ambassador to Armenia Anne Louyot told ArmInfo as she  responded to a question as to whether such a mission could be  expected in the near future given the fact that a relevant agreement  was reached two years ago, with no progress made since, while  Armenian monuments are being destroyed. 

France is supportive of the initiative to dispatch a fact-finding  UNESCO mission to the region, but, regrettably, decisions are not  made by one country in international organizations, Ms Louyot said. 

As to whether any other countries besides Azerbaijan are against  dispatching a fact-finding UNESCO mission to the region, the French  diplomat said that the countries in question are not so much against,  but they are not neutral either. 

Back on November 20, 2020, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay     announced the readiness of the organization to send a mission to    Karabakh to help restore the cultural and historical heritage of the  region. And already in December of the same year, Assistant    Director-General of UNESCO Ernesto Ottone noted that the organization    "so far is only waiting for Azerbaijan's response so that UNESCO can  continue to work with sending a mission." In turn, the Azerbaijani    Foreign Ministry, in a communique issued on December 22, 2020, called    on UNESCO not to politicize the issue of protecting cultural heritage  in Karabakh and stated 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 delayed by the   Azerbaijani side and against this background, in the territories of   Nagorno-Karabakh, which have come under the control of Azerbaijan,    acts of vandalism are being committed, Armenian cultural and  historical monuments are being destroyed, and the identity of the    monuments is being falsified.