Hamlet Hovsepyan, a collector of unique works of Armenian applied art, wrote on his Facebook page ․

“During the genocide against Armenians, the massacres and forcible deportations of Armenians from their homeland were accompanied by the looting and destruction of Armenian cultural material and non-material values.

During and after the genocide, the loot was mainly bought by foreigners operating in Turkey at that time and was spread all over the world.

A century after the genocide, items stolen from us are presented at world-famous museums and private collections.

Unfortunately, we do not have at least one museum dedicated to the material and cultural heritage of the historical homeland, the western part in the current Republic of Armenia, despite the fact that the archives of the History Museum of Armenia store huge amounts of materials brought to Armenia by immigrants.

Let’s hope that one day we will be able to really appreciate the real value of the huge cultural heritage passed down to us by our ancestors and finally realize the importance of passing on what we have inherited to future generations … ”