PRESS RELEASE
Armenian Center for National and International Studies
75 Yerznkian Street
Yerevan 0033, Armenia
Tel: (+374 – 10) 52.87.80 or 27.48.18
Fax: (+374 – 10) 52.48.46
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Website:
October 5, 2006
ACNIS Celebrates Twelve Years of Leadership With a Public Accounting
Yerevan–Today the Armenian Center for National and International Studies
(ACNIS) marked its 12th anniversary of public service and award-winning
policy research. On the occasion and in the presence of the Center’s
professional staff, political scientists and analysts, media representatives
and others, its officials presented an open report on ACNIS’s
accomplishments to date.
ACNIS public affairs specialist Lilit Sarukhanian greeted the invited guests
with opening remarks. "Today we will neither delve into academic discussions
nor make geopolitical and domestic analyses; we will simply congratulate one
another and jointly celebrate the birthday of our and your Center," she
said.
Next to congratulate everyone involved in the process was ACNIS director of
administration Karapet Kalenchian. "Twelve years, clearly, is not a long
time, but if we consider that our independent country is just fifteen years
old, then that amount seems not quite as short," Kalenchian noted. He also
underscored that the fruits of ACNIS’s analytical mind are primarily aimed
at unveiling and scrutinizing the developments taking place in, and the
challenges faced by, Armenia and its neighborhood, previewing potential
geopolitical scenarios and, in light of all these, planning a comprehensive
strategy.
ACNIS director of research Stiopa Safarian likewise offered his heartfelt
words, and continued with a brief accounting of ACNIS’s twelve-year track
record. "Our policy deliberations and analyses, whose key attribute is their
transparency, have treated a vast range of realms and topics including
global and regional developments; environmental and educational policy; the
rights of the former residents of Yerevan’s Northern Avenue and Biuzand
Street; conflict management and the Mountainous Karabagh process; the
macroeconomic reality of Armenia and the family business; the nation’s
minorities; and other societal imperatives," Safarian said. In his words,
the ACNIS-based National Public Opinion Service, which was launched a couple
of years ago, has already conducted more than twenty professional public and
expert surveys throughout Armenia, with their results publicized around the
world in multiple languages.
"It is beyond any doubt that the Center’s founder, owing to his distinction
and the prominence of his reputation, could have turned ACNIS into a one-man
show, a phenomenon which we see around us very often. Instead, he built this
institution from the bottom up, refusing to interfere with or put
limitations on the independence and individuality of the human mind, and by
his own example encouraging comprehensive, cutting-edge thinking and a free
competition of concepts and options," Safarian continued. He concluded that
ACNIS has humbly served the highest interests of Armenia, its liberty and
political culture, and every good idea that has arisen from the depths of
society.
The invited guests and public participants then joined their ACNIS
colleagues in a festive reception and a round of well wishes.
Founded in 1994 by Armenia’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi K.
Hovannisian and supported by a global network of contributors, ACNIS serves
as a link between innovative scholarship and the public policy challenges
facing Armenia and the Armenian people in the post-Soviet world. It also
aspires to be a catalyst for creative, strategic thinking and a wider
understanding of the new global environment. In 2006, the Center focuses
primarily on civic education, conflict resolution, and applied research on
critical domestic and foreign policy issues for the state and the nation.
For further information on the Center call (37410) 52-87-80 or 27-48-18; fax
(37410) 52-48-46; email [email protected] or [email protected]; or visit