  Mkrtich Minasyan: UNESCO has not been a great help in preventing destruction of khachkars in Julfa December 16, 2010 - 17:25 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - UNESCO has not been a great help in preservation of cultural heritage, seeing as no efforts were taken to prevent destruction of khachkars in Julfa, which started back in 1960s, the chairman of Armenian Architects’ Union Mkrtich Minasyan told a news conference in Yerevan. The head of Research on Armenian Architecture NGO Samvel Karapetyan, in turn, added, “To prevent acts of vandalism, Armenia should instigate legal action against perpetrators.” The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) declared the Armenian Khachkar (cross-stone) an intangible cultural heritage in need of urgent safeguarding. The decision to classify the unique Armenian artwork was made on November 17 during the fifth session of an intergovernmental committee of states signed onto UNESCO’s Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage.   Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says.   Partner news |  Latest news Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty  Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty.Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza.Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations.U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |
