Rima Abdul Malak:  As French Culture Minister, I have undertaken to  raise issue of preserving and protecting historical and cultural  heritage of Artsakh at all int`l platforms

ArmInfo. The French ALIF Company , which is engaged in the protection and preservation of  historical and cultural heritage, has prepared satellite images of the historical and cultural sites of Artsakh. French Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak stated  during a press conference in Yerevan on October 26.

She noted that the pictures will allow us to see the condition of the  objects, including even if they are destroyed.

At the same time, she noted that in the context of preserving the  cultural heritage of Artsakh, the department works with the UNESCO  organization, the office of which is located in Paris, as well as  with other European countries. "We have sent an official application  to UNESCO so that the latter can obtain permission to physically  visit these areas. This will allow us to register all historical and  cultural monuments that are Armenian, to identify them, so that we  have an understanding of the existing heritage," Rima Abdul Malak  noted.

She said that as the Minister of Culture, she pledged to raise the  issue of preserving and protecting the historical and cultural  heritage of Artsakh at all possible international platforms. "We must  spare no effort to do everything possible to ensure that this issue  receives due attention," the French Minister of Culture said.

Mrs. Abdul-Malak assured that France will continue cooperation with  Armenia in this and other areas.  In turn, the Minister of Education,  Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia Zhanna Andreasyan noted that  the preservation of historical and cultural heritage as of today is  one of the most important tasks, especially in the context of the  existing threat to cultural monuments in Nagorno-Karabakh.

"We should try to find those effective international mechanisms that  will help raise awareness and protection of cultural sites of  Nagorno-Karabakh," she noted. The minister emphasized that after the  Artsakh war of 2020, there is no certainty in the context of  preserving the historical and cultural heritage of Artsakh, and after  the forced displacement of the Artsakh population in 2023, this issue  became even more aggravated. Andreasyan said that as of today over 5  thousand Armenian cultural monuments and over 20 museums remain under  the control of Azerbaijan.

"And one of our main tasks is to preserve it all," she concluded,  noting that Artsakh's intangible heritage is also under threat.