Mr. President,
Mr. Director General, Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

Congratulations to you Mr. President, on your election, and we wish you success in this special task.

I welcome East Timor to the UNESCO family. I would also like to welcome the US delegates. Their return reinforces this organization¹s embodiment of the international will to either support or condemn those national policies which impact a society¹s cultural and scientific development. Armenia wholeheartedly supports UNESCO¹s importance as the guardian of those values
which are not "mine" or "yours" but "ours" -- those cultural values that are truly universal and shared, those that are worthy not just of national attention but international. What will be left of our world if it is the ills of terrorism, violence, hunger and poverty which draw our combined attention, to the exclusion of the depth, breadth, permanence and intensity of culture, education and science?

Armenia is proud that since 1996, we are a part of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. During these years, three outstanding Armenian medieval monastic complexes have been entered in the World Heritage List. The nomination of another monastery ­ Noravank ­ has been submitted to World Heritage Committee. In addition, the Horse-sculpture Cemetery of Riataza, belonging to Armenia¹s Yezidi non-Christian minority has also been submitted. On the waiting list are the nominations of Armenian sites on the Great Silk Road and of Yerevan¹s exquisite Blue Mosque, recently restored with Iran¹s generous support.

Thus, the UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity and our commitment to its protection and promotion is for us very real. Both cultural diversity and the protection of monuments are especially significant for nations which have monuments beyond national borders ­ indeed in countries around the world ­ and particularly in our neighborhood.

We are pleased that with the government of Iran, our centuries-long coexistence continues to be evident in our collaboration on the safeguarding of Christian and Islamic monuments on either side of our border. We cooperate with the Georgian government to promote the reconstruction and prevent the deterioration and disintegration of countless cultural masterpieces.

We are hopeful that through culture, we can work with the government of Turkey, too, to together maintain those monuments which they also recognize to be of universal value. The churches in Ani, Armenia¹s medieval capital, are architecturally important, and also significant for their near-border location. They offer a prime opportunity to work together to restore not just monuments, but also mutual trust and confidence.


Mr. President,

The Armenian presence in this region has been long and extensive. Denying or revising this history requires systematic planning, energy and resources.

The government of Azerbaijan has allocated such resources to do just that. And the area of Nakhichevan is the ultimate example. Over the decades of the 20th century, Nakhichevan¹s Armenian population dwindled to a fraction of what it used to be. Azerbaijan succeeded in eliminating the Armenians of Nakhichevan. There are none there today. However, even when the live Armenians were gone, memorials of their centuries-long past remained.

The wealthy trading town of Jugha in Nakhichevan had an enormous cemetery with large, delicately carved, red sandstone head stones, dating from the 9th to the 16th centuries, uniquely, individually artistically crafted. These khachkars or stone crosses numbered 5,000 in 1903. By 1973, half were gone. In 2003, there are none left standing.

Witnesses on the other side of the border observed what could only be government-sanctioned operations. Photos shot from a distance show systematic, individual destruction of each huge monolith. The remains were hauled away on state-owned rail cars on a state-owned railway.

Despite Armenia¹s repeated calls in various international forums, and with UNESCO, and despite UNESCO¹s offer to send monitors to assess the damage, Azerbaijan has persisted. It ignores international bodies and protective mechanisms, instead proceeding in bad faith and with a clear political agenda. It fabricates its own counter-allegations to draw attention away from its own internationally condemnable actions, as we heard today. I once again repeat, with full responsibility and with a clear conscience, our invitation to UNESCO to send monitors to the region to see the destruction where and as it is happening.

The disappearance of these irreplaceable historic and cultural markers means more than the disappearance of a bit of Armenian history. It demonstrates short-sighted, isolationist thinking in the face of global insistence on shared values and tolerance. Azerbaijan is a country living in fear of its past.

It is obvious that we hope that the Draft UNESCO Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage will enhance the mechanism of protection already embodied in existing cultural conventions.

UNESCO¹s efforts to encourage tolerance and respect for human rights, to reduce mutual mistrust between communities in conflict is an ongoing effort. Today that effort is expressed through the promotion of dialogue among civilizations. We certainly need such a push in our region. So, as a follow up of the "Dialogue among Civilization: Caucasus" Round table, held in Vilnius, we have submitted, along with Caucasian and Baltic countries, the Draft resolution with concrete proposals in various fields.

Armenia attaches great importance to all of UNESCO's initiatives in the region. We welcome Culture and HIV/AIDS in the Three Caucasus Countries project which will foster regional cooperation against a virus that knows no borders. We wish to take advantage of the very slow rate of HIV/AIDS growth in Armenia to promote even greater awareness of this huge societal danger.

Mr. President,

Armenians are an ancient people with a new country. There is much that we have to celebrate in our country, and with the world. Three years ago, we marked the 1700th anniversary of the adoption of Christianity as a state religion in Armenia ­ the first country to do so in the world. In two years, we will be celebrating the 1600th anniversary of the Armenian alphabet. The date is in this organization¹s Draft Calendar, and we urge the General Conference to endorse its inclusion, both as a nod to the value of
Cultural Diversity, and to the significance of languages and cultures as the live evidence of human and civilizational development and advancement.

Thank you Mr. President.