YEREVAN. – The Minister of Culture of Armenia, Hasmik Poghosyan, on Friday met with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Assistant Director-General for Culture, Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán.

Poghosyan underscored Armenia’s cooperation with UNESCO. She also stressed that this organization carries out a key mission of protecting culture, education, and freedom of expression.

“Monuments, including Armenian, are currently destroyed in Syria,” noted the minister. “And we are equally concerned about the fate of all monuments.”

In De Armiñán’s words, UNESCO adheres to two concepts: a united world in solidarity, and cultural diversity and plurality.

Hasmik Poghosyan, for her part, added that even though Armenia did not have statehood for centuries, it had developed thanks to Armenian individuals, who developed it by integrating into European culture.

The Armenian minister of culture also stated that everything is being done to complement the UNESCO Lists of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity with the elements of traditional Armenian culture.