Armenia’s acting Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Ara Khzmalyan today received Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons Paul Gavan and Secretary of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons Mark Neville.

As reported the Armenian Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, the acting deputy minister thanked the PACE for the support that it has been providing to Armenia in the post-war period and attached special importance to the recent PACE Resolution on Armenia and Artsakh which, among issues related to the violation of human rights, the preservation of Armenian historical and cultural monuments in the territories under the control of Azerbaijan was also raised.

Khzmalyan informed the PACE delegates that, as a result of the war unleashed against Artsakh on September 27, 2020, more than 2,000 Armenian historical and cultural monuments, as well as 10 museums (8 state museums and 2 private museums), along with nearly 20,000 samples, remained under the control of Azerbaijan. He added that cultural monuments were targeted and shelled during the whole period of hostilities.

Khzmalyan also expressed concern about the risk threatening the Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the territories that are currently under the dominance of Azerbaijan, taking into consideration Azerbaijan’s anti-Armenian policy. He also stated that Azerbaijan is creating artificial barriers for visits to assess the current state of Armenian historical and cultural heritage in the occupied territories.

“The most vivid case was Azerbaijan’s rejection of a monitoring mission of the UNESCO. The problem is more complicated, taking into consideration the fact that Azerbaijan is not a member to the ICOMOS, making cooperation impossible,” Khzmalyan said and added that it is necessary to call the international community’s attention to the fact that the risk of elimination of Armenian historical and cultural heritage concerns Armenian culture and the cultural heritage across Europe.

The acting deputy minister emphasized that the videos and photos on the Internet show that Azerbaijan continues its state policy of destruction of the Armenian identity, among the manifestations of which are the transformation of the dome of the Ghazanchetsots Holy Savior Cathedral of Shushi and the attempts to present Dadivank Monastery as a non-Armenian church.

The European delegates mentioned that the PACE is preparing a report on the consequences of the war that will be presented to the delegates of all 47 member states of the PACE during the session to be held in September. They added that Rapporteur Paul Gavan is preparing to visit Azerbaijan to prepare the report and said the fact that he hasn’t had the opportunity to visit Artsakh is troubling.