On October 9, Ambassador Christian Ter-Stepanian, Permanent Representative of Armenia to UNESCO, delivered remarks at the first plenary meeting of the 217th Session of the Executive Board of the organization.

In his speech, Ambassador Ter-Stepanian touched upon the forced mass displacement of Armenians resulting from Azerbaijan's policy of ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. It was noted that more than 100.000 Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh were forced to leave their homeland and found refuge in the Republic of Armenia.

The Ambassador drew the attention of the participants to the statements and steps taken by Azerbaijani representatives immediately after the military attack of September 19 and the exodus of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ambassador Ter-Stepanian particularly emphasized the destruction of the cross placed near Stepanakert and the attempts to appropriate and distort the identity of Gandzasar, one of the most famous medieval Armenian monasteries. He stressed that the mentioned steps once again demonstrate Azerbaijan's intention to erase any Armenian trace from Nagorno-Karabakh, and Armenia has repeatedly warned about that since November 2020.

In this context, the Ambassador specifically emphasized the urgency of sending UNESCO fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh, noting that the implementation of such a mission has been included in the programs under the consideration of the Director-General.

In parallel, the deployment of the UNESCO mission to Armenia aimed at the assessment of necessary conditions for ensuring continuity of education for 30.000 children was commended.

Concluding his speech, the Permanent Representative of Armenia to UNESCO emphasised the importance of adequate assessment and engagement of the international community under the current circumstances.