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    Emil Lazarian
  • 4 years ago
    • Categories: 2020

UNESCO receives no guarantees of Hagia Sophia preservation from Turkey

Panorama, Armenia

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has not yet been notified by Turkey of the required guarantees that Hagia Sophia will be preserved after being converted from a museum into a mosque, UNESCO’s press office told TASS on Friday.

"We have not received full information yet. Access to the cathedral is among a variety of issues, including the preservation of structural integrity and interior elements, management methods and others," the spokesperson explained adding that UNESCO would do its utmost to gather as much information as possible concerning the preservation of that cultural site.

According to the source, the decision to change the status of Hagia Sophia museum will be discussed at a next session of the World Heritage Committee, which comprises representatives of 21 member states.

To remind, earlier UNESCO expressed its deepest regret for Turkey’s decision to change the status of Hagia Sophia without preliminary dialogue. 

Emil Lazarian: “I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia.” - WS