ARF press conference opens is Yerevan

09.03.2007 15:37

YEREVAN (YERKIR) – A two-day conference of the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation publications opened in Yerevan today. The conference,
attended by the ARF publication representatives from Armenian and
foreign countries, will discuss issues related political and
ideological issues.

In his opening remarks, ARF Bureau member and the National Assembly
deputy speaker Vahan Hovhannisian said that the press was able to set
up a network to tie all the Armenians together scattered around the
world after the genocide.

"When I am asked how to describe national and anti-national articles
or papers, the answer is quite clear to me. Regardless of political
views, if a paper, a reporter raises hope in people even with
criticism, it is national. If they disseminate disappointment, if they
picture everything as hopeless, for example, saying that
Baku-Akhalkalak-Kars railroad is the end of Armenia, this is
anti-national," he said.

After a two-year pause, Droshak, an ARF official publication, will be
published again, and its future editor-in-chief, National Assembly
member and author Roben Hovsepian, said that while many problems have
been solved, we still face some challenges.

Vache Brutian, the editor of the Asbarez daily, published in the USA,
said that Armenia is always present in the Diaspora press and he hopes
that the Diaspora will also be present in the Armenian press. Boris
Navasardian, the president of the Yerevan Press Club, said that the
ARF publications have always contributed to preserving the Armenian
identity in the Diaspora.

Aram Abrahamian, the editor of the Aravot daily, said that while he is
not a supporter of the ARF, he still believes that it is better to
have some principles than have none. He reminded the ARF Supreme Body
publication Yerkir had a very large circulation in 1990s because of
its support of values that were accepted at the time. He also noted
that the ARF publications have never participated in actions aimed
against the limitation of free speech in Armenia.

ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margarian said that the ARF
publications were not just party papers but they were for the
community. "The press is my teacher, it gives assessments to my
activities, and it is very important to pay attention to it. In every
society, values are formed from time to time, and papers have a great
role to play in it," Margarian said.