Friday, October 27 2023 13:31

ArmInfo.After the forced displacement of the Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh, the  problem of the protection of the Armenian cultural-spiritual heritage  in Nagorno-Karabakh has further aggravated. Foreign Minister of  Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan stated on October 27 in Yerevan at a press  conference with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of  Hungary Peter Szijjarto.  

As the RA MFA reports, the RA FM noted in this matter: "You may  remember that we also previously appealed to UNESCO and to our other  international partners. There was an agreement, a decision to send a  UNESCO mission to Nagorno-Karabakh and neighbouring regions, and in  fact, due to many obstacles caused by Azerbaijan, this visit has not  taken place until now, but now this mission is even more needed, and  we hope that it will happen, the work is still being done in that  direction. But I also want to talk about individual countries. Today  we are hosting the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary in Armenia  and we talked about that today. I also want to thank the Minister,  who sincerely expressed his desire to intervene and contribute to  this important work, ensuring the preservation of the Armenian  cultural and spiritual heritage and accessibility to those places.   Again, Mr Minister, thank you.

I would also like to take this opportunity to refer to other  occasions that Hungary has shown support and expressed its readiness  for collaboration. We truly express our gratitude for the fact that  through negotiations Hungary was able to ensure the return of 5  Armenian prisoners of war to the Republic of Armenia. Also now, when  we have more than 100,000 refugees, forcibly displaced people in  Armenia, they have already taken part in helping them. You just heard  that Hungary is willing to provide psychological support to children  who need treatment and who have experienced that psychological  trauma, including through summer camps, etc. I want to say that we  are grateful and value the support and expect the same attitude  regarding the topic of cultural heritage," the Armenia's top diplomat  said.

At the same time, touching on the situation in the region as a whole,  he said in particular: "Your visit takes place in a situation where  we can talk about the available opportunities, as I mentioned, but we  must also be able to adequately assess the general regional  developments, which in turn have a significant impact on the security  situation and stability of the region.

I am sure that Hungary, also as an EU member state, is well aware of  all developments. I would like to emphasise that for a lasting and  dignified peace in the South Caucasus for our people it is vital to  ensure the exclusion of the use of force and xenophobic policy,  because we have already witnessed its manifestations, which we have  repeatedly warned about. Only a month ago, the policy of ethnic  cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh was completed, and more than 100,000  Armenians were forced to flee to save their lives and were forcibly  displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, left their historic homeland, and  now seek safe shelter as refugees in the Republic of Armenia.

It is obvious that lasting peace in the region requires commitment  and effective steps by all the countries in the region, and the  rejection of maximalist aspirations. It is possible to achieve stable  peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, it is possible to sign a peace  treaty if there is an unequivocal recognition of the territorial  integrity of Armenia and Azerbaijan and delimitation of the borders  of the two countries is carried out on the basis of the 1991 Alma-Ata  Declaration and the latest maps of the USSR. It is no coincidence  that these guidelines were reflected in the Granada Quadrilateral  Declaration adopted on October 5, to which we also expect the  practical support of other international partners," the Minister  noted.