Today the Armenian Youth Foundation (AYF) organized an action outside the British Embassy in the Republic of Armenia to transfer the remains of goddess Anahit’s statue from the British Museum. They handed the statement on bringing the remains of goddess Anahit’s statue back to the motherland signed by the youths who had joined the foundation’s initiative.
Armen Ashotyan, the minister of education and science of the Republic of Armenia, also joined the action, “I must express my warmest gratitude to the Armenian youth, the Armenian society in general, that they have not only reacted so actively to my proposal, but have also supported it. There have been also pessimistic assessments, individual opinions, according to which the return is pointless. We have moral grounds to make such a demand. The process will not be easy… There are precedents, when the British returned the cultural relics of Egypt and Greece and it was not a quick process. It will be a success, if we are consistent and we will be so given such a youth. I don’t accept extremes, but on the other hand, I think that there are a thousand circumstances and a hundred reasons to ask them to give our Anahit back and only one reason for not returning her. And that one reason is that Anahit is in Britain at the moment. This event becomes more symbolic, as it has coincided with the Women’s Day. Anahit was the goddess of maternity in ancient Armenia.”
The minister added that he was ready to raise the issue as an official and a politician on different occasions and in different organizations, “I hope that Anahit will come home one day.”
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Let us remind that the AYF made a statement on its website a few days ago, in which it was mentioned that a collection of signatures had been organized to return Anahit, which had been joined by more than 20 thousand youths from Yerevan and regions. “We the undersigned take an initiative to bring back Armenian cultural and historic values. Presently a lot of pieces that are articles of the Armenian culture are kept and exhibited in museums around the world. The bronze head and hands of goddess Anahit kept in the British Museum are among those values. We call on Armenia to bring back those cultural relics, since art and historic values should be kept and exhibited in the country, where they have been created and whose history they embody. Let us mention that Anahit was Aramazd’s daughter, the goddess of maternity, fertility, birth and in earlier times of war too. Anahit was considered the mother of wisdom and morality, goddess feeding, providing for and glorifying people. The copies of the signed statement will be sent also to the British Museum,” it is said in the statement addressing the British ambassador. The initiative of bringing back the remains of goddess Anahit’s statue has become a pan-Armenian action – many Diaspora Armenian youths have joined the action of the Armenian Youth Foundation collecting 1063 signatures from around the world led by Gevorg Martirosyan, a resident of Los Angeles.
Attaching importance to the youth movements, AYF coordinator Karen Avagyan stated, “The initiative of the action has been taken by the Armenian Youth Foundation itself, but the whole initiative has been started on the internet – Armen Ashotyan posted the respective note, which has grabbed the attention and the approval of many people… The action will continue unless we get an official response.”
Armen Ashotyan, the minister of education and science, handing the signed statement to the British ambassador, left the embassy and stated, “The ambassador has proposed and initiates an inter-museum exchange and a transfer of the remains to Armenia for a period of up to one year. Certainly, we expressed our gratitude; we will necessarily seize this opportunity and will apply to the competent bodies to organize the exchange and the exhibition of the remains of goddess Anahit’s statue in Armenia. Certainly, our ultimate goal is the final return. We must go step-by-step, be armed with patience and be consistent.”
Angela SHAHUMYAN
