ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DELIVERS SPEECH AT THE 35TH SESSION OF UNESCO GENERAL CONFERENCE

ARMENPRESS
Oct 8, 2009

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 8, ARMENPRESS: Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandyan delivered speech at the 35th session of UNESCO General
Conference Armenian Foreign Ministry Media and Information Department
told Armenpress that the speech of the minister runs as follows:
"Distinguished Mr. President, Distinguished Director General,
Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, First of all, I would
like to congratulate Ms. Irina Bokova, on her upcoming election as
Director-General of UNESCO. I am confident, that with her leadership
this distinguished forum will make a remarkable step forward in
achieving major goals of this Organization. I am also honored to
express my sincere thanks to H.E. Koichiro Matsuura, the outgoing
Director General, for his dedicated work for the last 1o years.

Mr. President, Since the first day of its membership to this
Organization, Armenia’s policy in cooperation with UNESCO has pursued
the goal of benefiting from its tremendous capacity, and adding
value through contribution by its own cultural values, scientific
and educational potential in the achievement of UNESCO’s noble goals.

We welcome the policy of the Organization in the context of the
overall UN reform, to bring its offices close to the regions it deals
with and become a more active member of the UN country team in the
implementation of "One-UN" concept. The conclusion of the UNESCO
Country Programming Document of Cooperation between UNESCO and the
Republic of Armenia in March 2008 provides with ample opportunities
to extend its activities in Armenia by developing inter-sectoral
country programs linked with and complementary to the United Nations
Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF).

Mr. President, Armenia has developed vast cooperation with UNESCO
in all areas of its interest implementing multiple programs and
initiatives. Just to name a few, within the "Education for All"
program, we hosted this Septe n "Enhancement of quality of Education
and Curriculum Development." This November, the Armenian National
Commission together with the Ministry of Culture is organizing under
the auspices of UNESCO a regional conference entitled "Cultural Policy
and Policy for Culture." The inclusion of the 800th anniversary of
the world renowned manuscript illuminator Toros Roslin, and 1600th
anniversary of the founder of the Armenian historiography Movses
Khorenatsi in the UNESCO list of anniversaries for 2010-2011 would
allow us to pay tribute to the work and memory of these exceptional
figures that left an inerasable footprint in the minds and history
of mankind.

Mr. President, Armenia is a country rich with cultural monuments
dating back to 4th millennium BC. As of today there are nearly 33 000
historical and cultural monuments in Armenia under state protection,
included in the State Register of National Heritage. For centuries, the
Armenian people have erected numerous and diverse cultural monuments
most of which, due to known historical events, are currently located
outside the borders of the present-day Republic of Armenia. Armenia’s
neighbors have displayed different approaches towards the question
of the preservation of Armenian historical heritage.

There is an excellent cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran
(IRI) that takes proper care of the Armenian monuments situated in its
territory. The living proof of the aforementioned is the inclusion of
St. Thaddaeus Monastery in the World Heritage List by the suggestion
of Iran.

In the recent years the 17th-century Persian mosque erected in Yerevan
has been restored in cooperation with the Iranian specialists, and
has become functioning.

Unfortunately, this positive experience is not reciprocated by our
other neighbors. As a result of the policy of destruction of the
Armenian historical heritage, thousands of cultural monuments that
were of universal value, have been lost forever.

Mr. President, In an era when the protection and promotion of hum
erpinning concept for a civilized nation, damaging or destroying
cultural or religious memory intentionally, consistently, repeatedly,
must be condemned with the same resolve and determination as violence
aimed against people.

Unfortunately, with Azerbaijan, efforts to do away with Armenian
heritage go on unabated despite the continuous alarm rang by Armenia. A
painful proof of the monument demolition that has been in process
for years, is the annihilation of the centuries-old Jugha (Julfa)
Cemetery in Nakhichevan with its tens of thousands of delicately
carved, unique cross-stones dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries,
that bore to the talent and the artistic skill of the masters of Jugha.

There was no war in the years between 1998 and 2005 when thousands of
these giant sculptures were knocked over, piled onto railroad cars and
carted away under the Azerbaijani government’s watchful eyes. In 2005,
this enormous cultural gem was bulldozed down, leveled and turned into
a military training ground in a government-sanctioned operation. As
regretfully stated in the 16th ICOMOS General Assembly resolution:
"this heritage that once enjoyed its worthy place among the treasures
of the world’s heritage can no longer be transmitted today to future
generations."

There was no war also in 1975, when a 7th century Armenian church was
completely demolished in the center of Nakhichevan, for no reason
other than to wipe out the memory of the Armenians who constituted
a majority there just decades earlier.

Mr. President, Armenia gives high priority to the protection of
cultural values which are not "mine" or "yours" but "ours" — those
cultural values that are truly universal and shared, those that are
worthy not just of national attention but international. Armenia’s
commitment to protection and promotion of human rights and cultural
diversity is very real. Both cultural diversity and the protection of
monuments are especially significant for nations which have monuments
beyond national borders, indeed in countr ur neighborhood. Doomed
from its very beginning, the annihilation of the civilization of any
people is incompatible with and unallowable for any country aspiring
to membership in such international organizations, as UNESCO.

We do believe that this organization, the United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, would be able to stand up to
the challenge of unabated violation of cultural rights and thus bring
its contribution to enhancing intercultural dialogue and tolerance
all over the world.

Thank you Mr. President."