VARTAN OSKANIAN ADDRESSES THE 34TH SESSION OF THE UNESCO GENERAL CONFERENCE

armradio.am
18.10.2007 17:59

RA Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian addressed the 34th session of the
UNESCO General Conference on 17 October. The Minister said, in part:

"UNESCO provides the platform where humanity’s global challenges are
addressed among equals, placing responsibility on each of us to pursue
international cooperation in this organization’s fields of competence –
education, science, culture and communication and information. These
are the areas of human knowledge which are essential for deep and
successful globalization, fair and equitable globalization, will
lead to sustainable development and poverty eradication. Our hope,
of course, is that this is the path to prosperity and peace."

Mr. Oskanian said Armenia welcomes UNESCO’s intention to expand
its activities in our country. "Armenia’s high economic growth and
positive macroeconomic state have led to the alleviation of some of
the more obvious social and economic ills. I have repeatedly said
that our second generation reforms will be the more difficult, the
more challenging to adopt and implement and this category includes
the essential but difficult reforms in education and science, culture
and communication.

In a country with a proud and ancient record of education and science,
we are deep in the throes of reforms. With the Bologna measures as
guide, our students are prepared to undergo yet another period of
transition – this time to ease their entry into the international
educational arena.

The science community too is undergoing restructuring to facilitate
their integration into international scientific cooperation
programs. The vibrancy and competitiveness of these fields are
essential for their own sake, as well as for economic and social
advancement.

But dear colleagues, UNESCO’s calling card is its commitment to the
World’s Cultural Heritage – the concept and the content. Armenia
attaches great importance to the organization’s efforts to develop
legal instruments aimed at the protection of the cultural heritage
of humanity.

We are diplomats immersed in the world of culture, education and
science.

Diplomats and people of the arts and culture are both the
beneficiaries of dialogue, and perhaps because of that, we feel
compelled to continually search for non-traditional ways to approach
the overarching issue of our time: living at peace in a pluralist
world. Diplomats and cultural workers, like the societies which we
represent, live in neighborhoods that are not going to change, with
memories that are not going to go away, and with experiences that are
irreversible. Therefore, we look for ways to break the barriers of the
past because we remain convinced that between cultures and countries,
there must be dialogue and understanding."

"As a people, serving as the perennial buffer between empires, on the
most trampled path on earth, Armenians have become living witnesses
of the benefit of dialogue between and within cultures. We have been
engaged in that international exchange for ages. Today, we in Armenia
are among its greatest promoters, especially in our neighborhood.

Today, Armenia is a cosponsor of the Draft Resolution on "Proclamation
of an international year for bringing cultures together" that will
hopefully be adopted by the current session of the General Conference.

The UNESCO focus on "Demonstrating the importance of exchange and
dialogue among cultures to social cohesion and reconciliation to
develop a culture of peace" and "Sustainably protecting and enhancing
cultural heritage" is welcome. But this sounds hollow if we only do so
when it’s easy to do. When it’s easy, cultural heritage is protected
and exchange and dialogue do take place on their own. When it is
hard, undesirable and hopeless, that is when UNESCO, its instruments,
its clout, its ability and willingness to speak in the name of all
mankind, that is when UNESCO is needed," the Minister said.

"Armenia appreciates and respects the historical-cultural heritage of
national minorities, which are within its territory. The destruction
of timeless monuments in the Soviet period – monuments belonging to
all religions, not just our ancient Christian churches and monasteries,
but also mosques – cannot be undone. We can only take pride in what we
have and protect and preserve them. In fact, the Cemetery of Riataza,
belonging to Armenia’s Yezidi non-Christian minority, Armenian sites
on the Great Silk Road and Yerevan’s exquisite, recently restored
Blue Mosque are on the waiting list for inclusion in the UNESCO World
Heritage List.

In our region, borders have changed frequently and peoples have
moved and been moved repeatedly. Armenia’s ancient civilization has
established settlements, left behind traces of living communities —
fountains and bridges, churches and massive religious and artistic
sculptures. The fate of those monuments is important for their own
sake, for the sake of artists and historians, but even more so, for
the sake of a world that must remember its history, must remember
the legacy of peoples who have come and gone.

Our interest therefore in the world’s cultural heritage is not
just philosophical. It is very much personal. Our history is indeed
intertwined with the history of our neighbors, with their history. We
are dismayed at attempts to ignore this history. We are appalled at
attempts to undo this history.

We are not the only ones who have said from this podium that the
destruction of a people’s patrimony is tantamount to destroying their
memory, their history, their identity. Unfortunately, we have neighbors
who have built today’s identity on a less than real history. And we
see the trauma and instability that results.

Once again, we urge UNESCO to send monitors to our region, specifically
to Nakhijevan, to see and appropriately judge the intentional
destruction in areas far removed from war and confrontation.

Prosperity and peace, that is that goal of all UN agencies. In UNESCO,
we have a better chance of achieving our objectives because our fields
of interest are those that cross borders and frontiers naturally,
across differences and distances and across histories and memories,"
Vartan Oskanian concluded.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress