Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On January 24 of this year, the conference entitled "Preserving the cultural and spiritual heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh" was held in Brussels, at the European Parliament, which was organized by the initiative of the European Parliament.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to the Kingdom of Belgium, Head of the Representation of Armenia in the European Union Mr. Tigran Balayan and Member of the European Parliament Mrs. Miriam Lexman made opening remarks at the event.

With the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; Rev. Fr. Archimandrite Garegin Hambardzumyan, Head of the Artsakh spiritual and cultural heritage office and Director of the Mission Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin made report on Azerbaijan's policy of targeting Armenian sanctuaries, destruction of historical and cultural values, and the urgency of the steps to be taken by the international community in that direction.

In his report, Father Garegin urged to protect the cultural and religious heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh, to respect the freedom of religion and belief, which is stipulated in a number of international treaties, as well as to provide an opportunity for the representatives of the independent assessment mission of UNESCO to visit the region and document the status of cultural monuments.

Secretary General of Europa Nostra Cultural Heritage Protection International NGO Sneska Quaedvieg-Mikhaylovich, Artsakh cultural heritage expert Armine Tigranyan of "Bnorran" historical and cultural NGO and Pierre d'Arzhan, professor of Leuven University also made reports at the conference made reports at the conference.