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PRESS RELEASE
October 21st, 2004
Contact: Talline Tachdjian
Tel.: +32 (0)2 732 70 27

FIRST CONVENTION OF EUROPEAN ARMENIANS HUGE SUCCESS

–200+ European and Armenian Leaders Discuss Issues of Importance to
Armenians in the EU

Brussels, Belgium (October 21st, 2004) – The First Convention of European
Armenians, organized by the European Armenian Federation on October 18th and
19th, 2004, was a great success, drawing more than two hundred European
citizens of Armenian origin and many European officials. The participants,
who included leaders of various organizations and concerned individuals from
sixteen countries, attended the debates organized within the framework of
three sessions dedicated to the Armenian culture and identity in Europe, the
relations between the European Union and Armenia, and the challenges of EU
Enlargement.

In addition to the many European and Armenian officials, religious
dignitaries representing the two Catholicoses of the Armenian Apostolic
Church and one civil representative of the Patriarch of the Armenian
Catholic Church participated in the Convention, as well as Mr Ruben
Shugarian, Armenian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

During his welcoming speech, Mr Francis Wurtz, Chairman of the United Left
Group (GUE), the inviting party, declared that “regarding the Armenian
question, GUE has always supported the Armenian claims not only within the
context of the right to remembrance and dignity but also in accordance with
a peoples’ right to self-determination.”

The Convention covered many issues, from the European Commission’s New
Neighborhood Policy, to the question of the protection and the development
of the Armenian language in the Diaspora. During the second session, the
ambassador of Armenia to the European Union, Mr Vicken Tchitetchian,
presented Mr Demetrio Volcic, Italian Senator and Former member of the
European Parliament, the medal of Mkhitar Gosh, one of the highest official
distinctions made by the Armenian Republic. Apart from sessions, meetings
were organised between national delegations from different countries and
their permanent representation to the European Union, as well as the
European Parliament’s Presidency.

The Convention was concluded by the adoption of the Charter that Hilda
Tchoboian, the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation, presented to
a panel of journalists during the final press conference. On the much
anticipated topic of Turkey’s candidacy to the European Union, Hilda
Tchoboian declared that “Turkey expressed through the Genocide of the
Armenian people – the very people who represented the values of
enlightenment within the Ottoman Empire – its rejection of European
modernity.” She warned European Union’s leaders against the integration of a
State that persists to express that rejection of European values through its
policy of denial and that through its attitude “threatens the regional
stability and the right to security and life of the Armenian people”.
Reminding that “in the eyes of International law and its practice, today’s
Turkey remains responsible for this genocide as a successor State”, she
concluded that we cannot “artificially bring a people into modernity by
using external constraints.”

All documents related to the Convention, and particularly the Charter, will
be soon published on the website of the European Armenian Federation