in Russian – https://crossroadorg.info/conf-2-11-2021/

On November 2-3, 2021, an international online conference “The UN responsibility for the protection of the cultural heritage of ancient peoples from cultural genocide” was held in St. Petersburg, Russia. It was dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the entry into force in 1951 of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide dated 9.12.1948.

Organizers:

• “Crossroad” public organization of sociological and political science initiatives  https://crossroadorg.info/en/
• Ministry of education, science, culture and sports of the Republic of Artsakh http://edu.nk.am/
• Public Institute of political and social research of the Black Sea-Caspian region named after V.B. Artsruni www.bs-kaspiy.org

 

Press release

https://aga-tribunal.info/release-2-11-2021-en/

Resolution

https://aga-tribunal.info/res-3-11-2021-en/

Participants and their reports

24 participants were present:

• Simon Maghakyan (Denver, Colorado), researcher, visiting scholar at the University of Tufts, executive director of Save Armenian Monuments, USA – «How religious freedom can prevent cultural genocide in Artsakh»
• Armen Marsoobian (New Haven, Connecticut), Professor in Southern Connecticut State University – «Genocide by Other Means: The Centrality of Cultural Destruction to the Erasure of a People»
• Henry C. Theriault (Worcester, Massachusetts, US), Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Worcester State University, Founding Co-Editor, Genocide Studies International Immediate Past President (2017-2021), International Association of Genocide Scholars – «Cultural Destruction, Cultural Resistance, and Cultural Repair and Rebirth»
• Dr Garen Arevian (London, UK) – “Cultural Appropriation and Misrepresentation by Azerbaijan – examples from the UK and what we can learn”
• Lusine Gharakhanyan (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh), Minister of education, science, culture and sports of the Republic of Artsakh – «Historical and cultural heritage of Artsakh in the territories occupied by Azerbaijan: current situation and challenges»
• Viktor Nadein-Raevsky (Moscow), Ph.D. in history, Director of the Institute for political and social research of the Black Sea-Caspian region named after V. Artsruni, senior researcher at IMEMO named after E. Primakov of Russian Academy of sciences – «Genocide and culturicide of Armenians and other Christian peoples as a tool for the implementation of the Pan-Turkism program»
• Alexandr Manasyan (Yerevan), Ph.D. in philosophy, corresponding member of the Armenian Academy of sciences, professor of the Department of history and theory of philosophy at Yerevan State University – «Culturicide in the political behavior of Azerbaijan»
• Melania Balayan (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh), Ph.D., Advisor to the Minister of education, science, culture and sports of the Republic of Artsakh – «Ethnicity of the Aluan Church and political speculation»
• Nune Sarumyan (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh), Ph.D. in history, head of the department of history and political sciences of Artsakh state university – «Artsakh-Karabakh history and falsification of historical realities»
• Valeria Olyunina (Moscow), editor-in-chief of the web site “Nasha sreda” (“Our environment”), leading researcher at the Institute of political and social research of the Black Sea-Caspian region named after V. Artsruni – «Falsifications of Azeri Propaganda in the Field of the Heritage of the Russian Period by Alexander Tamanyan»
• Nona Shahnazarian (Yerevan), Ph.D. in history, cultural/social anthropologist, senior researcher at the Institute of archeology and ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia – “Gazanchetsots: the mental map of Shushi”
• Margarita Gasparyan (Stepanakert), head of the Department of the Office of the Human rights defender of the Republic of Artsakh – “Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh, cases of vandalism and threat of destruction by Azerbaijan”
• Maxim Atayants (Saknt Petersburg), Honored Architect of the Russian Federation, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of architecture and construction sciences: “Monuments of Palmyra – destruction, damage assessment and restoration prospects”
• Fransua Ksavie Tulikunkiko (Sankt Petersburg), President of Association of African Diaspora for Truth and Improvement of the Situation of People of African Descent «Inganzo Gakondo» – «Rwandan Genocide: history falsification and culturicide by the Rwandan Patriotic Front – examples of the destruction of intangible cultural heritage»
• Alexandr Danilov (Saint Petersburg), historian – «The problem of preservation and protection of cultural heritage monuments of Northern Cyprus»
• Grigory Ayvazyan (Yerevan), Ph.D. in history, researcher at the Institute of archeology and ethnography of the Armenian Academy of sciences, chairman of the Assembly of Azerbaijani Armenians – «Russia, Artsakh-Azerbaijan conflict and Udins»
• Hovik Avanesov (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh), head of the Center for Caucasian studies, Mesrop Mashtots University, member of the Public Council for protection of cultural heritage “COHEP” – «The appropriation and destruction of cultural heritage as a war crime»
• Saro Saryan (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh), chairman of the public organization Union of refugees of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic – «Traditional vandalism and Azerbaijan’s encroachment on the Armenian material and spiritual heritage in Shushi»
• Martik Gasparyan (Moscow), Prof. Dr., Vice-president of the International Academy of Spiritual Unity of Peoples of the World, Honorary member (academician) of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences – «Prospects and strategy for the formation of a humanistic-noospheric cosmic civilization and preservation of civilizational, scientific and cultural heritage and diversity»
• Oleg Gabrielyan (Symferopol), Ph.D. in philosophy, professor, Dean of the Faculty of philosophy at Simferopol University – «The use of international platforms against the culturicidal policy of Azerbaijan»
• Ruben Kirakosyan (Moscow), head of the human rights practice of the Moscow City Bar Association GRAD, President of the Russian-Armenian Association of Lawyers ARMROSS – «Legal regulation of issues of protection of historical and cultural monuments»
• Ashot Shakhsuvaryan (Yerevan), chairman of the Russian-Armenian non-governmental Center for legal assistance – «Cultural genocide and the legal reaction of society and the state»
• Armine Hayrapetyan (Stepanakert), Director of the State Service for the protection of the historical environment of the Republic of Artsakh – «Destruction by Azerbaijan of Artsakh’s cultural heritage, appropriation, use of objects for purposes alien to them»
• Vahan Babakhanyan (Sankt Petersburg), public organization of sociological and political science initiatives “Crossroads” (“Khachmeruk”), member of the Coordinating council of Russian-Armenian organizations – «On the consolidation of scientific, human rights and public organizations to resist the pragmatic complicity by countries of the ongoing crimes of culturicide»

First day of the conference, November 2, 2021

Topics

• Politics and forms of cultural genocide (culturicide)
• Distortion and falsification of history

Videos (some have also texts) of the speakers

• Simon Maghakyan (Denver, Colorado)
• Armen T. Marsoobian (New Haven, Connecticut)
• Henry C. Theriault (Worcester, Massachusetts)
• Lusine Gharakhanyan (Stepanakert, Republic of Armenia)
• Viktor Nadein-Raevsky (Moscow)
• Melania Balayan (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh)
• Valeria Olyunina (Moscow)
• Nona Shahnazarian (Yerevan)
• Nune Sarumyan (Stepanakert, Republic of Armenia)

Simon Maghakyan (Denver, Colorado), researcher, visiting scholar at the University of Tufts, executive director of Save Armenian Monuments, USA

«How religious freedom can prevent cultural genocide in Artsakh»

Video (20 min, in Russian)

Armen T. Marsoobian (New Haven, Connecticut), Professor of Philosophy, Southern Connecticut State University, First Vice President, International Association of Genocide Scholars

«Genocide by Other Means: The Centrality of Cultural Destruction to the Erasure of a People»

Text in English – https://aga-tribunal.info/marsoobian-2-11-2021-en/

Video (22 min, in English)

Henry C. Theriault (Worcester, Massachusetts, US), Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Worcester State University, Founding Co-Editor, Genocide Studies International Immediate Past President (2017-2021), International Association of Genocide Scholars

“Cultural Destruction, Cultural Resistance, and Cultural Repair and Rebirth”

Video (20 min, in English)

Lusine Gharakhanyan (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh), Minister of education, science, culture and sports of the Republic of Artsakh

«Historical and cultural heritage of Artsakh in the territories occupied by Azerbaijan: current situation and challenges»

Text in Russian –

Video (9 min, in Russian)

Viktor Nadein-Raevsky (Moscow), Ph.D. in history, Director of the Institute for political and social research of the Black Sea-Caspian region named after V. Artsruni, senior researcher at IMEMO named after E. Primakov of Russian Academy of sciences

«Genocide and culturicide of Armenians and other Christian peoples as a tool for the implementation of the Pan-Turkism program»

Video (15 min, in Russian)

Alexandr Manasyan (Yerevan), Ph.D. in philosophy, corresponding member of the Armenian Academy of sciences, professor of the Department of history and theory of philosophy at Yerevan State University

«Culturicide in the political behavior of Azerbaijan»

Video (9 min, in Russian)

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Melania Balayan (Stepanakert), Ph.D., Advisor to the Minister of education, science, culture and sports of the Republic of Artsakh

«Ethnicity of the Aluan Church and political speculation»

Text in Russian –

Video (5 min, in Russian)

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Valeria Olyunina (Moscow), editor-in-chief of the web site “Nasha sreda” (“Our environment”), leading researcher at the Institute of political and social research of the Black Sea-Caspian region named after V. Artsruni

«Falsifications of Azeri Propaganda in the Field of the Heritage of the Russian Period by Alexander Tamanyan»

Text in Russian – https://aga-tribunal.info/olyunina-1-11-2021/

Video (7 min, in Russian)

Nona Shahnazarian (Yerevan), Ph.D. in history, cultural/social anthropologist, senior researcher at the Institute of archeology and ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of Armenia

“Gazanchetsots: the mental map of Shushi”

Video (12 min, in Russian)

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Nune Sarumyan (Stepanakert), Ph.D. in history, head of the department of history and political sciences of Artsakh state university

«Artsakh-Karabakh history and falsification of historical realities»

Video (11 min, in Russian)

Second day of the conference, November 3, 2021

Topics

• Destruction of cultural heritage (CH) objects, desecration of CH objects, appropriation, use of CH objects for purposes alien to them
• Cultural heritage protection and international law
• Responsibility of the UN, UN member states, international organizations, the media, scientific and expert communities, human rights lawyers, the public for the effective protection of CH of the ancient peoples from culturicide

Videos (some have also texts) of the speakers

• Margarita Gasparyan (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh)
• Maxim Atayants (Saknt Petersburg)
• Fransua Ksavie Tulikunkiko (Sankt Petersburg)
• Alexandr Danilov (Saint Petersburg)
• Grigory Ayvazyan (Yerevan)
• Martik Gasparyan (Moscow)
• Ruben Kirakosyan (Moscow)

Margarita Gasparyan (Stepanakert, Republic of Artsakh), head of the Department of the Office of the Human rights defender of the Republic of Artsakh

«Armenian cultural heritage in Artsakh, cases of vandalism and threat of destruction by Azerbaijan»

Video (12 min, in Russian)

Maxim Atayants (Saknt Petersburg), Honored Architect of the Russian Federation, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of architecture and construction sciences

«Monuments of Palmyra: destruction, damage assessment and restoration prospects»

Video (15 min, in Russian)

Fransua Ksavie Tulikunkiko (Sankt Petersburg), President of Association of African Diaspora for Truth and Improvement of the Situation of People of African Descent «Inganzo Gakondo»

«Rwandan Genocide: history falsification and culturicide by the Rwandan Patriotic Front – examples of the destruction of intangible cultural heritage»

Video (21 min, in Russian)

Alexandr Danilov (Saint Petersburg), historian

«The problem of preservation and protection of cultural heritage monuments of Northern Cyprus»

Video (16 min, in Russian)

Grigory Ayvazyan (Yerevan), Ph.D. in history, researcher at the Institute of archeology and ethnography of the Armenian Academy of sciences, chairman of the Assembly of Azerbaijani Armenians

«Russia, Artsakh-Azerbaijan conflict and Udins»

Video (15 min, in Russian)

Martik Gasparyan (Moscow), Prof. Dr., Vice-president of the International Academy of Spiritual Unity of Peoples of the World, Honorary member (academician) of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences

«Prospects and strategy for the formation of a humanistic-noospheric cosmic civilization and preservation of civilizational, scientific and cultural heritage and diversity»

Text of suggestions (in Russian) – https://aga-tribunal.info/m-gasparyan-2-11-2021/

Video (21 min, in Russian)

Ruben Kirakosyan (Moscow), Head of the human rights practice of the Moscow City Bar Association GRAD, President of the Russian-Armenian Association of Lawyers ARMROSS

«Legal regulation of issues of protection of monuments of history and culture»

Video (12 min, in Russian)