Inclusion of the capital city of Medieval Armenia Ani in the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage List is important for Armenia, since the protection of the Historic-Cultural Monument is transferred to the monitoring of an international organization, Deputy Minister of Culture Nerses Ter-Vardabyan told reporters at the press conference.

To remind UNESCO World Heritage Committee inscribed historic archaeological site of Ani to its World Heritage List during its 40th session, which took place in Istanbul on July 10-20. The application had been submitted by Turkey.

As the deputy minister noted Turkey appealed to the UNESCO several years ago and reviewed and supplemented the application after notes and corrections requested by International Council on Monuments and Sites. In its latest version, the Armenian origin and identity of the monuments are clarified, which is an important provision for Armenia.

“In practice, we gain not only the status but also popularization. We focus on the most important thing for us, which is to get guarantees for the protection and preservations of the monument. The state, which has submitted the application, is obliged to periodically report UNESCO about the actions taken with regard to the site, including issues of preservation, protection, renovation, and management of tourist flows. All the relative standards should be maintained without alteration to its initial appearance,” noted Minister Ter-Vardanyan.

The minister next informed that the Armenian identity of the city of Ani, once the capital of Armenian dynasty of the Bagratides, was presented in a special brochure and disseminated among the people who had authority in adopting the decision.