On 12 December, 2023, a meeting of the Committee of the UNESCO Hague Convention of 1954 “For the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict” and Protocol 2 of 1999 was held in Paris. During the session, the Republic of Armenia was elected a member of the committee for a period of 4 years.

Mr. Alfred Kocharyan, Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports headed the delegation of the Republic of Armenia.

The delegation includes representatives of the RA Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, ESCS, employees of the RA Embassy in France and the RA Representation of UNESCO in Paris.

The Deputy Minister of the RA ESCS, Alfred Kocharyan, in his speech referred to the issue of the endangered Armenian cultural heritage in Nagorno-Karabakh and the UNESCO mission.

Alfred Kocharyan noted that there are many testimonies about the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage and the elimination of Armenian traces in Nagorno-Karabakh and in the Nakhichevan region as well as in other parts of Azerbaijan.

During the session, the Deputy Minister of the RA ESCS emphasized that the mission proposed by the Director General of UNESCO and supported by the second protocol committee has been rejected by Azerbaijan in the last 3 years.

Alfred Kocharian added that the UN special rapporteur on cultural rights issues expressed concern in his message to Azerbaijan about the examples of continuous destruction and appropriation of Armenian historical, cultural and religious places and objects, which are a violation of international human rights standards.