On January 29, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan participated and delivered remarks at the press conference on the occasion of the inclusion of Komitas Vardapet’s collection of works in the Memory of the World Register by the unanimous decision of the UNESCO Executive Board. Zhanna Andreasyan, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and Nikolay Kostandyan, Director of Komitas Museum-Institute participated in the press conferences as well.

In his remarks, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Vahan Kostanyan particularly noted:

"Allow me to once again congratulate on this very important occasion - the 9th anniversary of the Museum-Institute, as well as on another important milestone of international recognition of Komitas heritage. Dear colleagues, in May 2023, as already mentioned, the UNESCO Executive Board made an important decision, approving the application submitted by Armenia and registering the collection of works of Komitas in the Memory of the World Register.

I would also like to remind you that in 2019, when the 150th anniversary of Komitas Vardapet was celebrated, this important anniversary was included in the UNESCO Calendar of anniversaries of eminent personalities and important events and was widely celebrated all over the world.

Let me note that the Memory of the World Register includes documentary samples of exceptional value. The main objective of this program is to prevent the loss of valuable collections of archives and libraries around the world and to promote their effective protection and wide dissemination. Prior to that, the First Byurakan Survey, the Mashtots Matenadaran ancient manuscripts collection as well as the collection of note manuscripts and film music of Composer Aram Khachaturian found their rightful place in the prestigious list.

Today, the inclusion of Komitas’ collection of works in the Memory of the World Register is first of all the merit of the years of joint work, as already noted, between the Museum-Institute, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Taking this opportunity, let me also mention the work done by our partners and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this direction in 2023. On November 9, the Minister of Foreign Affairs participated in the 42nd session of the UNESCO General Conference, where the importance of sending a UNESCO fact-finding mission to Nagorno-Karabakh was voiced. In order to address the educational needs of forcibly displaced children from Nagorno-Karabakh, the emergency mission of UNESCO was in Armenia last October. UNESCO has approved the emergency mission plan aimed at including refugee children in the education process and improving their psychological state.

As you know, the 100th anniversaries of Charles Aznavour and Sergei Parajanov were included in the UNESCO Calendar of anniversaries of eminent personalities and important events for the 2024-2025 cycle. The Minister already mentioned that the “Gyumri blacksmithing tradition” has been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List and the process of granting enhanced protection to the monasteries of Tatev and Tatevi Anapat and the adjacent areas of the Vorotan Valley, the monument group within the framework of the UNESCO Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict is underway."

The event also included the presentation of the "Labor Songs" volume of the series of Armenian folk songs "One Thousand and One Songs". At the end of the event, the participants also took a tour of the Komitas Museum-Institute.