The Inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List is an Additional Guarantee for Ani

Siranush Ghazanchyan

 

Ani, the medieval Armenian capital, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The decision was made at the 40th session of the World Heritage Committee in Turkey.

“What’s important for Armenia is that the site’s inclusion in the list provides certain guarantees for its preservation,” Vahram Kazhoyan, Secretary General of Armenian National Commission for UNESCO, told reporters in Yerevan on July 20, 2016. He said that this becomes more important given the strained relations between Armenia and Turkey.

“On a more practical level, this means that any actions connected with the monument, be them maintenance, restoration or even management of tourist flows, will be reported to UNESCO,” Kazhoyan said. He stressed that no changes can be made to the site without permission from UNESCO.

Besides, he said, this was important from the point of view of popularization of the monument. The application clearly mentions the Armenian origin of Ani. To leave no doubts, the Armenian side published a booklet about Ani, which presents the city’s history as the capital of the Armenian kingdom of the Bagratids. It was disseminated among all who could have any influence on the decision-making, Kazhoyan said.

Before Turkey would submit the application, the Armenian side had frequently raised the issue of the state of Armenian cultural heritage in Turkey.

“Had Turkey tried to submit the application without mentioning the Armenian belonging of the city, it would have been rejected by the expert group of the Committee,” Deputy Minister of Culture Nerses Ter-Vardanyan said.

Turkey’s initial bid, called “Cultural landscape of Ani,” was quickly rejected with many questions raised about the belonging of the city, its cultural layers, maintenance, and especially the work done since 1918, he said.

The Deputy Minister praised the final application submitted by Turkey. “Of course it was not ideal, but not bad,” he said.

Public Radio of Armenia (www.armradio.am), July 20, 2016