International Conference on "The Endangered Christian Heritage of Artsakh"
29.04.2023
On April 28, an international conference was held in the city of Cologne, Germany, on the topic "The Endangered Christian Culture of Artsakh".
The conference was organized in cooperation with the Catholic Bishops' Synod of Germany, the Evangelical Church of Germany and the Armenian Diocese of Germany. Specialists from Armenia, Germany and other countries were invited to the event. His Grace Bishop Serovbe Isakhanyan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Germany; Rev. Fr. Archimandrite Garegin Hambardzumyan, Director of the Department of the Preservation of Spiritual-Cultural Heritage of Artsakh; Mr. Arman Tatoyan, former human rights defender of the Republic of Armenia and Monumentologist Hamlet Petrosyan participated in the conference from the Armenian side.
The conference consisted of two parts. In the first, closed working-professional discussions took place, where Armenian and foreign specialists presented the importance of preserving Artsakh's Armenian-Christian spiritual-cultural heritage, Azerbaijan's violations of human rights and international law in general, the facts of the destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, the possibilities of putting Artsakh under international protection.
The second part of the conference was also open to Armenian and foreign visitors. The event was opened by the blessing remarks of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; which was read by His Grace Bishop Serovbe Isakhanyan. In his blessing remarks, His Holiness emphasized the importance of organizing such events, informing the international community, ecclesiastical and political bodies and inviting them to join the efforts and programs aimed at protecting Artsakh's cultural heritage. The Armenian Patriarch also conveyed his gratitude and blessings to the organizers and participants of the conference.
Afterwards, a report was given by Rev. Fr. Garegin Hambardzumyan, as well as Dr. Jasmine Dum-Tragut, member of the Department of the Preservation of Spiritual-Cultural Heritage of Artsakh, on the theme "The destruction, expropriation and appropriation of Armenian monuments by the Azerbaijani authorities in the territories controlled by Azerbaijan in Artsakh and the activities of the Department of the Preservation of Spiritual-Cultural Heritage of Artsakh"; lawyer Sara Babayan on "The ways of saving Armenian Christian culture from the perspective of international law" and theologian Harald Zurman on "The cultural heritage of Christian peoples in the general context".
The conference was chaired by Mr. Markus Meckel former penultimate foreign minister of the GDR.
