Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-02-16-Speech-4-202"
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"en.20060216.23.4-202"2
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"Mr President, today’s debate on human rights and democracy concerns the protection of the cultural heritage of the Armenian people, which is threatened with total destruction. Armenia, which has a population of 4 million, has been Christian since 301 AD, making it the first Christian country in the world. This fact is supported not only by historical documents but also by the thousands of crosses carved onto stone tablets, called
which have been destroyed, just as other Armenian cultural treasures have been destroyed in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
The
which are literally stone crosses between 0.5 and 3.5 metres high, were made of basalt. They were placed on a cuboidal base and the front of the stone, which bore the image of the cross, was positioned to point west. The Armenians saw the
as a protective power that would shield them from natural disasters. These structures were erected to commemorate important events they featured as compositional elements in sacred buildings and were also used as tombstones, always placed at the feet of the deceased.
A cemetery in Djulfa was destroyed recently. The cemetery dated back to the Middle Ages and was located in the region controlled by Azerbaijan. The scandalous process of devastation and destruction of Armenian cultural monuments began in 1998, when 800 of the stone crosses I described were destroyed. Although this process of destruction was temporarily halted following protests by UNESCO, it resumed in 2002. It is probable that the reprehensible destruction of Armenian cultural heritage is being carried out with the consent of the government of Azerbaijan, which sent special army units to destroy the stones bearing Armenian crosses.
Armenians have been persecuted for centuries. They have suffered as a result of war, aggression and occupation. They are a nation with a wealth of experience, both as a nation and as a Christian people. The Azeris have experienced destruction and suffering too, but it must be emphasised that no conflict can justify the destruction of cultural heritage, which is a common legacy for the whole of humanity.
Culture is an expression of communication between people, of shared thoughts and actions. It is a confirmation of humanity and a fundamental common legacy for communities. We therefore call for respect for our global common legacy, irrespective of religion and origin."@en1
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"khatchkars"1
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