Opening Remarks by Ambassador Andranik Hovhannisyan at the international conference on "Spaces, Landscapes, and Social Lives of the Cross in Medieval Armenia and Georgia" convened at the University of Fribourg

06 November, 2023

Excellency,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a particular pleasure and privilege to attend this conference and I thank for the invitation.

At the outset I would like to congratulate the organizers – the University of Fribourg, Masaryk University of Brno and all others who have contributed to this remarkable endeavor. Its most meaningful and solid agenda tells us that in the course of the next two days the participants of the conference will have the chance to enjoy presentations and benefit from numerous academic contributions in this field of interest. Not having an ambition of entering into this scientific discourse, as an opening remark I would try to deliver a brief overview on the meaning and role of the Cross in Armenian history and society worldwide and how it relates to diplomacy.

As you know, Armenia was the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion and one of the first to contribute to the creation of traditions of the Christian faith. In recognition of these traditions Pope Francis conducted a pilgrimage to Armenia in 2016.

However, these traditions do not limit only to Armenia. The Armenian communities worldwide have largely contributed to their development. Some of them like the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem continuous to make almost uninterrupted contribution to this end starting from the early Middle Ages. Today most of these communities can be easily identified by the use of the unique Armenian Cross in the churches all the way from Amsterdam, where the first Armenian book was printed in 1512 to the island of San Lazaro in Venice, where one of the most important Armenian cultural centers has been located for the last 250 years, and beyond, reaching as far as Beirut, Isfahan, Madras, which were at different times among important Armenian centers, as well as Singapore, where the oldest surviving church building is an Armenian church.

Needless to say, that Cross has a central role in those traditions. It has even in some senses transcended its exclusively religious meaning and started to play a much wider role in the society. For instance, it has become a largely celebrated part of the Armenian art. It does not come as a surprise that the Armenian culture today in the world, especially its medieval culture is recognized also through the unique cross-stones, or the Khachkars, as we, Armenians call them. In such renowned museums of the world as Metropolitan and Louver the medieval Armenian cross-stones are exposed as the masterpieces of the Armenian art and culture.

As a diplomat I cannot fail to mention that the XIII century Armenian cross-stones is situated in the headquarters of the United Nations in New York, another one is erected in front of the Council of Europe building in Strasbourg, yet another one stands in the garden next to the Peace Palace that hosts the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

This special contribution of the Armenian medieval traditions stands in the key international diplomatic and legal venues as a symbol of peace, solidarity and cooperation. I have to add here that the symbolism and craftsmanship of Khachkars have been inscribed in 2010 on the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Throughout the centuries the Armenian cross-stones have become an important part of our national identity. Regrettably, they have been also continuously attacked, together with the Armenian churches and other sacred sites by those who target our national identity. The most notorious case is the destruction of thousands of cross-stones in the medieval Armenian cemetery in Jugha. Last year the European Parliament adopted a resolution that “Strongly condemns Azerbaijan’s continued policy of erasing and denying the Armenian cultural heritage in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, in violation of international law and the recent decision of the International Court of Justice”.

Throughout the centuries the Armenian cultural and religious heritage has suffered numerous loses. We are keen to preserve what is left and to do our utmost to pass them to the future generations worldwide, since we believe that the cultural heritage of any nation belongs to humanity. Armenia strongly supports the full involvement of UNESCO in this regard and its unimpeded and unfettered access on the ground to all monuments without any distinction. We would certainly encourage the academic circles and scientific community to join this call.

In conclusion, I would like to recall that the fifth century Armenian historian Movses Khorenatsi wrote that Armenia is a small nation but we also have done some remarkable things that makes as proud. Certainly, our art and culture are among them. Therefore, I would like to once again express my gratitude for the theme and focus of this conference that would largely highlight our culture and traditions that makes as proud.

I have no doubt that this conference will make a meaningful contribution to the academic research on exchanges and interactions between the medieval cultures of our region and will help in preserving and protecting them. I wish the participants fruitful and most enriching discussions.

Thank you.

MFA RA
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