‘’In its press release of 20 November, UNESCO reiterated countries’ obligation to protect cultural heritage in terms of the 1954 Convention for the Protection of cultural property in the event of armed conflict to which both Armenia and Azerbaijan are parties. The Organization proposed to carry out an independent mission of experts to draw a preliminary inventory of significant cultural properties as a first step towards the effective safeguarding of the region’s heritage.
The proposal received the full support of the Co-Chairs of the Minsk Group and the agreement in principle of the representatives of both Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Meeting at UNESCO on 10 and 11 December 2020, the members of the intergovernmental Committee of The Hague Convention of 1954 for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its Second Protocol (1999), welcomed this initiative and confirmed the need for a mission to take stock of the situation regarding cultural properties in and around Nagorno-Karabakh. The Committee requested each of the parties to render the mission possible.
Since 20 November, UNESCO made proposals and led in-depth c...