The FINANCIAL — On the sidelines of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, Georgian Foreign Minister took part in the High-Level Meeting on Protecting Cultural Heritage – an Imperative for Humanity”: Acting together against the destruction and trafficking of cultural property by terrorist groups and organized crime
The meeting was organised by the Governments of Italy and Jordan, on the joint initiative of UNESCO, INTERPOL and UNODC, and was dedicated to the issues of protecting cultural heritage during conflicts, according to MFA of Georgia.
Mikheil Janelidze addressed the attending audience underlining the challenge of protecting cultural heritage was well known to Georgia. The Minister noted that the Russian aggression of August 2008 and subsequent occupation have endangered historic monuments located in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia. Mikheil Janelidze underlined that in a continuation of the policy of ethnic cleansing, the cultural heritage of the occupied territories remained a subject to stylistic falsifications aimed at obliterating cultural associations with Georgian history and cultural identity. Ancient works of arts have intentionally being destroyed and Georgian monasteries of many centuries old were being replaced with temples of foreign appearance, the Minister added.
Mikheil Janelidze expressed his deepest regret over the recent attacks on historic sites in Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen and underlined that trafficking of cultural goods not only damaged the cultural heritage of the country and eradicated traces of the past, but became one of the main sources of terrorism and organized crime financing.
The Georgian Foreign Minister stated that preservation of cultural heritage was not a task for one particular state – it needed the international community’s joint endeavours. Mikheil Janelidze noted that Georgia welcomed the “Unite4Heritage” campaign and other initiatives launched by UNESCO and that Georgia has successfully participated in one of campaigns and its efforts were assessed as one of best practices.
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