The 33rd session of the General Assembly of the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM)  was held in Rome, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of Armenia informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

As part of the Armenian delegation, this event was attended by Harutyun Vanyan, Head of the Department of Protection of History and Cultural Monuments of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, as well as by diplomats from the Armenian embassy in Italy.

Harutyun Vanyan delivered a report at the session. He presented the issues of preservation of the Armenian historical and cultural monuments of Nagorno-Karabakh and the ongoing state policy of Azerbaijan to eliminate the Armenian trace from Nagorno-Karabakh, destroy Armenian historical and cultural monuments or falsify Armenian identity. In particular, the report emphasized that the huge Armenian historical and cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh can be saved only with the pressure and tools of international authoritative organizations. In this context, the report noted that the same situation once existed in Nakhichevan, where, unfortunately, it was not possible to save the Armenian historical and cultural heritage.

Clear facts and figures were presented regarding the cases of vandalism and destruction of Armenian monuments already carried out by Azerbaijan, references were made to resolutions and decisions adopted by a number of international authoritative organizations, but which Azerbaijan, not respecting international law and order, does not fulfill.

Also, during the aforesaid session, an agreement was reached within the framework of ICCROM's First Aid and Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR) program, taking into account the number of endangered and border monuments in Armenia.