Cultural heritage, including churches, should be under government  protection - Deputy Minister

ArmInfo.  National Assembly members Sisak Gabrielyan and Taguhi Ghazaryan, members of the ruling Civil Contract faction, propose amendments to Article 37 of the Law "On the Preservation and Use of Immovable Historical and Cultural Monuments and the Historical Environment."

Presenting the legislative initiative at the January 20 plenary  session of the National Assembly, Taguhi Ghazaryan noted that  religious buildings included in the state list of monuments may be  alienated by any third party for compensation or free of charge only  with the consent of the government. The executive branch cannot grant  such consent or reject a change of ownership if there is a risk that  the property will not be used for purposes other than its original  purpose, or if the terms of the transaction are contrary to public  interests, or if the documents submitted with the notification are  false or distorted.

Taguhi Ghazaryan emphasized that the initiative aims to further  strengthen institutional mechanisms for the protection of monuments.

During the question-and-answer session, a proposal was put forward to  accord special significance and status to all churches and objects  housed in churches, thus ensuring their protection. According to  Taguhi Ghazaryan, regardless of religious beliefs, cultural monuments  and valuables belonging to the Armenian people must be protected by  law. "We insist that all churches belonging to the Armenian Apostolic  Holy Church remain the property of the Armenian Apostolic Holy  Church," the speaker noted.

In turn, RA Deputy Minister of Justice Tigran Dadunts noted that the  government has no fundamental objections to the document presented.  The Deputy Minister stated that the government is guided by the  position that cultural heritage must be under the guardianship and  protection of the state.