Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan today received United Nations Under-Secretary-General, High Representative for the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations Miguel Angel Moratinos.

As reported the Office of the Prime Minister, the Armenian premier stated that this is the first high-level visit of the UN Alliance of Civilizations to the Republic of Armenia and voiced hope that this visit will contribute to the bilateral cooperation and the dialogue between the peoples of the region.

High Representative Moratinos presented the main areas of activities of the Alliance of Civilizations and attached importance to Armenia’s role and participation in the activities, adding that the Alliance is ready to help promote tolerance, interreligious dialogue and protection of shrines in the region within the scope of its mandate.

Prime Minister Pashinyan attached importance to the actions aimed at promoting dialogue and tolerance in the region and underscored the need for an adequate response of the international community to Azerbaijan’s aggressive actions. Pashinyan called his interlocutor’s attention to the facts of destruction and distortion of Armenian historical, cultural and religious heritage in the territories that are now under Azerbaijani control as a result of the aggression against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), including the actions of the Azerbaijani side against the Ghazanchetsots Holy Savior Cathedral in Shushi and the Dadivank Monastery.

The Armenian premier also attached importance to the entry of the UNESCO’s fact-finding mission into Nagorno-Karabakh and the nearby regions and attached special importance to the need for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to carry out a humanitarian mission in Artsakh.