Desecration of Armenian khachkars in Old Jugha by Azerbaijan in the focus of attention of Europa Nostra pan-European Federation for Cultural Heritage

2007-12-13 15:23:00

ArmInfo. The fact of desecration of ancient Armenian khachkars by
Azerbaijani troops in the territory of Old Jugha will be brought
in the magazine of Europa Nostra, the pan-European Federation for
Cultural Heritage, Armenian Deputy Culture Minister Gagik Gurdjyan
said at a press conference in Yerevan, Thursday.

He said that a relevant agreement was reached at the 12th International
Conference of National Trusts (ICNT) in Deli December 3-5. The Armenian
delegation made a report on the barbarian policy of Azerbaijan with
regard to the monuments in Old Jugha at the session on the topic of
preservation of cultural heritage in the zones of military conflicts
and natural calamities’ held within the frames of the event.

Moreover, all the participants in the session and the heads
of diplomatic missions were given the copies of a documentary
‘Jugha’ made by film director Tigran Karapetyan. G. Gurjyan said
that after the report, a newly established International National
Trusts Organization (INTO) comprising 12 countries, including the
USA, Holland and Slovenia, decreed that desecration of cultural and
historical monuments must be considered a crime against humanity. Thus,
there are preconditions for more serious attention of international
experts to the facts of vandalism. Moreover, unlike UNESCO, public
organizations can study the facts of destruction of cultural monuments
even when they are out of state borders.

To recall, the film ‘Jugha’ presenting the chronology of the
desecration in 2005 was distributed to US congressmen. According to
preliminary data, the film will be officially issued in 5 languages:
Armenian, Russian, English, French and Turkish. In 2005 Azerbaijani
troops desecrated over 2,000 monuments.