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Since June 2016, Armenia has become a member of UNESCO 2003 Convention for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is a serious achievement, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, Ashot Hovakimyan said during a press conference.

According to him, as a member of the Intergovernmental Committee of the Convention, Armenia receives serious rights, such as the right to vote. The Committee receives and approves requests submitted by different countries concerning intangible cultural heritage.

Mr. Hovakimyan informed that Armenia submitted a request to include traditional dance Kochari in the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which will be considered by the Committee in 2017.
Deputy Minister of Culture of Armenia, Nerses Ter-Vardanyan said that 200th anniversary of the birth of Hovhannes (Ivan) Aivazovsky, painter (joint nomination by Armenia and the Russian Federation, with the support of Italy) has already been included in UNESCO Calendar. Since then, a number of countries have been organizing different events dedicated to the renowned painter.

“Obviously, as an initiator, Armenia too has several projects planned for 2017. We have joint projects with Russia. Currently we’re discussing cooperation with Poland,” Mr. Ter-Vardanyan said.

Speaking about applications submitted to UNESCO, he said that the possibility of making joint requests with other countries is being discussed. “The joint applications are a trend now. UNESCO shows great interest in these applications. We’re considering submissions of joint requests with Iran, Georgia, as well as Greece and Cyprus”.

The Deputy Minister of Culture also spoke about the joint application submitted by Turkey, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan concerning the flat bread. “It seems that the initiator of this application is Azerbaijan”.

The Deputy Foreign Minister added that the culture of making the flat bread begins with lavash (the Armenian bread).

“It is presented as a type of flat bread made in Azerbaijan, yet the studies have shown that the flat bread has different names in Azerbaijan with lavash named the last. Yet in the application it appears the first. It’s no news for Azerbaijan to build its historical, cultural heritage on the heritage of neighbouring countries and submit applications, which unfortunately are approved from time to time. Our permanent representative at UNESCO has sent a letter to the Director-General clearly noting the political motives of Azerbaijan’s application,” he said.

This application will be discussed during the December session.

To remind, lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia have been put on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Speaking about new submissions by Armenia, Secretary-General of the Armenian National Commission for UNESCO Vahram Kazhoyan said that the process of approving any submission lasts from 3 to 4 years. “Now they are more focused on supplementing the list of world heritage. This is more material, tangible and contributes to tourism development”.

To remind, Armenian cultural values, including duduk and its music, art of khachkar, its symbolism and craftsmanship, “Daredevils of Sassoun” epic poem and lavash, the preparation, meaning and appearance of traditional bread as an expression of culture in Armenia have been included in UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.