Armenian Apostolic Holy Church The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin

On December 11-12, a two-day conference titled "Shushi, the Pearl of the Caucasus" was held at the "Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales" (INALCO) of France, which was organized by the "Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales" (INALCO) Foundation and through the initiative of the "Memorial" project.

At the opening of the conference, Rev. Fr. Archimandrite Garegin Hambarzdumyan, Director of the Mission Department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, conveyed the attendees the blessings and appreciation of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians.

Afterwards, the Vice-president of the French Senate, Pierre Ouzoulias, made a welcome remarks.
Attending the conference were: Rev. Fr. Archimandrite Grigor Khachatryan, Primate of the Armenian Diocese of France; Ms. Hasmik Tolmajyan, RA Ambassador to France; Mr. Charles Personaz, director of the French National

Institute of Cultural Heritage; Armenian and foreign scientists, political, public and cultural figures.
During the conference, reports were presented dedicated to the preservation of the spiritual and cultural heritage of Shushi and Artsakh in general, and the ways of cooperation of Armenian and French figures in this direction were pointed out.

Rev. Fr. Archimandrite Garegin Hambardzumyan presented a speech on "Shushi as an educational and spiritual center in the Diocese of Artsakh and the mission of Holy Etchmiadzin in preserving the cultural heritage of Artsakh", and also presented documented evidence of the targeting of Armenian sanctuaries and the destruction of historical and cultural values by Azerbaijan and proposals for steps to be taken by the international community.