International Conference on “Regional Peace: Realities and Perspectives” in the Mother See

On October 31, with the blessings of His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians; an international conference on “Regional Peace: Realities and Perspectives” was held in the Vatche and Tamar Manookian Library of the Mother See. The conference was organized through the initiative of the WCC Armenian Round Table Foundation.

The Conference dedicated to finding ways to establish peace in the region was chaired by Rev. Fr. Vahram Melikyan, Director of the Information Services Department of the Mother See and member of the Board of Trustees of the Round Table; Dr. Karen Nazaryan, Executive Director of the WCC Armenia Round Table Foundation; and Mr. Aram Safaryan, political analyst and President of the “Integration and Development” NGO.

Reports on the peace-building, interreligious, and intercultural communication issues and regional problems, will be delivered by religious, public and political figures, experts and journalists from Armenia, Russia, Iran, Georgia and Turkey.

The conference was opened with the remarks of Father Vahram. His Eminence Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Director of the External Relations and Protocol Department of the Mother See and Mr. Eduard Sharmazanov, Deputy Speaker of the RA National Assembly welcomed the attendees.

Mr. Alexander Vasilyev, Russian Embassy Adviser; read the message of Mr. Ivan Volinkin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Armenia. Welcoming remarks were also made by Ali Shajaan, Imam of the Blue Mosque in Yerevan.

Very Rev. Fr. Shahe Ananyan, Director of the Ecumenical Relations Department of the Mother See; and Mr. Seyed Mohammad Reza Heydar, cultural attaché of the Iranian Embassy in Armenia, gave speeches regarding the “The role of religions and cultures in the process of establishing peace and cooperation”.

Mr. Alexander Markarov, Director of the Armenian branch of the Institute of CIS countries; and Mr. Boris Navasardyan, Yerevan Press Club President, each spoke on the theme “Armenia and Neighbors: Vision of Development of Relations”.

During the final session of the conference, reports regarding regional diversity, current challenges and opportunities; were given by Mr. Adnan Celik, Anthropologist from Turkey; journalist Serdar Corjun; Alexander Rusetski, Director of South Caucasus Regional Security Institute in Georgia; political scientist Jane Amelina, from the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies; Mr. Rouben Melkonyan, Dean of the Faculty of YSU Oriental Studies; and Mr. Vahram Petrosyan, Head of the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy.

Source: OCP