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Armeniaâ€™s attempt to make UNESCO to recognize ashig art as Armenian intangible cultural heritage failed

25 November 2011 09:29 (UTC +04:00)

Press service of the Foreign Ministry told APA that First Secretary of Azerbaijanâ€™s permanent delegation to UNESCO Anar Karimov, expert-musicologist Sanubar Bagirova, employee of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Gunay Aliyeva represent Azerbaijan at the event.

The nominations to the urgent safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage were discussed at the first day of the session. Armeniaâ€™s two nominations â€“ â€œArmenian ashig love romanceâ€ and â€œArmenian water festival - Vardavarâ€ were submitted for discussion. During the discussions Azerbaijani representative informed the participants that the nominations presented by Armenia didnâ€™t meet the relevant criteria of the Convention, ashig art was misappropriated by Armenia and there were provocative quotes about Nagorno Karabakh in the nomination. It was underlined that the above-mentioned things were contrary to the corresponding principals of the Convention and didnâ€™t contribute to the intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding which are one of the basic priorities of the UNESCO. Despite the explanations of the Armenian representatives, most members of the committee supported Azerbaijanâ€™s fair position and opposed the inclusion of Armeniaâ€™s two nominations in the list of urgent safeguarding of the intangible cultural heritage. Consequently, the abovementioned two nominations were not accepted according to the committeeâ€™s decision.