Armenia`s Permanent Rep. to UN again calls on UNESCO to ensure  protection of Armenian cultural heritage in territories of Artsakh  that came under Azerbaijani control

ArmInfo. Armed conflicts and military actions can have devastating impact on objects of cultural heritage, which are of irreplaceable value to the entire mankind as  unique expressions of history, identity and cultural memory. As such,  their integrity and preservation must be upheld at all times. 

Armenia's Permanent Representative to the UN Mher Margaryan stated at  the UN Security Council Arria-Formula Meeting "Protection of Cultural  Heritage in Armed Conflict".

As the press service of the Mission reports, in his speech Margaryan  noted, in particular:  "I thank the Permanent Missions of France and  the United Arab Emirates and the cosponsors for convening today's  meeting, as well as the distinguished briefers for their valuable  remarks and welcome the participation of Director-General Azoulay.  The UNESCO has an important mandate in protecting cultural heritage  at risk, and I would like to acknowledge the critical role of the  Orgaization in this regard.  Armed conflicts and military actions can  have devastating impact on objects of cultural heritage, which are of  irreplaceable value to the entire mankind as unique expressions of  history, identity and cultural memory. As such, their integrity and  preservation must be upheld at all times.  In our region, we have  first-hand experience going through the devastating loss of cultural  property. The Armenian heritage was under heavy attack during the war  in Nagorno-Karabakh launched by Azerbaijan in 2020. The Holy Savior  Ghazanchetsots Cathedral of Shushi, for example, was deliberately  shelled, twice within a few hours, resulting in the partial  destruction of the Church.  Today, the millennia-old Christian  Armenian sites in Nagorno-Karabakh are on the verge of total  extermination, targeted to promote the distorted narrative that the  Armenian people are alien in the region. Armenia's deep concern in  relation to the fate of the cultural property in Nagorno-Karabakh is  also based on the previous history of total and intentional  eradication of the Armenian heritage by Azerbaijan. In Nakhijevan,  for example, thousands of monuments, including 89 medieval churches  and more than 5,000 cross-stones were annihilated, in an effort to  remove traces of the Armenian civilizational presence.  Azerbaijan is  yet to commit, in good faith, to the implementation of the Order on  Provisional Measures issued by the International Court of Justice at  the request of Armenia in December 2021, according to which  Azerbaijan shall "take all necessary measures to prevent and punish  acts of vandalism and desecration affecting Armenian cultural  heritage, including but not limited to churches and other places of  worship, monuments, landmarks, cemeteries and artefacts".  Dear  Colleagues, Armenia has consistently requested that a UNESCO  fact-finding mission be deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh and the adjacent  areas in order to help preserve the vast and unique cultural heritage  of the region, yet, Azerbaijan continues to obstruct efforts of the  international organizations for independent and impartial assessment  of the facts on the ground, having opted, instead, for the policy of  systematic erasure of the Armenian traces, putting into practice a  pseudoscientific theory that denies the historical sites of their  Armenian origin. Only today, the chairman of what is called the State  Committee for Work with religious Organizations of Azerbaijan went on  record saying that the Medieval Armenian Dadivank monastery "belongs  to Caucasian Albania" and "sooner or later it will be controlled by  the Albanian-Udi religious community".  Destruction of the Armenian  cultural heritage continues to be extensively monitored and reported,  including through the use of modern technologies. I would like to  recall, in this regard, that on 28 April, last Friday, Armenia hosted  a panel discussion at the UN, which looked into the role of new  technologies in preventing genocidal acts, such as cultural heritage  destruction. The event featured a research project at the Cornell  University entitled "Caucasus Heritage Watch", which relies on  digital satellite technologies to monitor and document cultural  heritage in the region, revealing large-scale damage and destruction  in the territories under Azerbaijan's control.  I would like to  conclude my intervention by encouraging UNESCO to also utilize  digital technologies to identify, monitor and act upon  the facts of  destruction  of cultural heritage in any part of the world, and in  our region in particular.  Thank you."