INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ISSUES OF REGIONAL SECURITY TO BE HELD IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Feb 5, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The second international conference
"Countries of Caucasus and the Middle East – Possible Partners
in the Process of Formation of Regional System of Security" with
the participation of political scientists and experts from Russia,
Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Austria, China, other countries will be
held in Yerevan on February 7-8. Among the conference participants
are Prof. Hans Kehler (University of Innsbruck, Austria), Vyacheslav
Igrunov (director of International Research Institute of Humanity
and Politics, Russia), Bao Yi (leading specialist of Institute of
Eastern Europe, Rissia and Central Asia of the Academy of Social
Sciences of China), Cemal Usak (Secretary General of "Platform
for Intellectual Dialog, Turkey), Zulfugar Farzaliev (journalist,
Azerbaijan), Mohamed Shakir (Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs),
Prof. Gokhan Bacik (University of Fatih, Turkey), Georgi Petrosian
(Minister of Foreign Affairs, NKR) and others.

At the opening event to be held in the Armenia Hotel, speeches of
welcome of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and the conference
organizer – the chairman of the World Armenian Congress (WAC), UNESCO’s
Ambassador of Good Will Ara Abramyan will be read. After the opening
speech of the first deputy chairman of the WAC Aram Sargsian, other
participants will make reports to be followed by the discussion "New
Generation of National Elites on the Way to Integration in the Global
Processes" (moderator Dr. Hans Kehler – one of the world’s leading
experts in economics). Then the works will be presented by sections:
"Peaceful Way of Solution of Inter-State Disputes Does not Have
Alternatives" (moderators: Ruben Safrsatyan, director of East Studies
Institute of the RA National Academy of Sciences and Prof. Vladimir
Zakharov of Moscow State Institute of International Affairs), "From
Regional to Global Security System, from Interbloc Cooperation to
Stable Peace" (moderator Hans Kehler), and "Realization of Integral
Forms of All-Regional Economic, Socio-Cultural, Inter-Civilized
Projects – Safe Basis for Realization of Peaceful Initiatives"
(moderator Garnik Asatryan, head of the Iranian department of Yerevan
State University).

At the final plenary session on February 8, the Conference Declaration
will be discussed and adopted. Its draft in particular reads:
"Indicating the geopolitical realities, which have formed in the
region as a result of non-homogeneity of historical, political,
ethnic-cultural peculiarities of development of peoples in Caucasus
and the Middle East, the representatives of the interntional conference
participants Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Egypt, China, the
NKR, Russia, Turkey state: Caucasus and the Middle East is a region
of nonintegrated interests. <…> However, the similarity of unsolved
problems of territorial, religious, economic, socio-cultural nature
and the urgency of formulation of a unifying all-regional idea of
peaceful and constructive development of the regional countries give
the conference participants the right to assert that the regional
leaders’ and social elites’ awareness of the danger of continuation
of a policy not in line with geostrategical goals, as well as their
political will allow to conduct discussion of the principles of
building the region of Caucasus and the Middle East as a new single
geopolitical whole.

The absence of aspiration to achieve a baseless dominating position
over neighbors must become a precondition for starting negotiations. As
a task for taking the first step on the course to the integration
process, the conference participants consider the development of
"Declaration" by authorized representatives of the regional countries
– with presentation of general problems, examination of the potential
and prospects of integration, as well as integration-related threats
and risks, and modelling of the options of solution of all-regional
problems.

Defining regional security as a general system of inter-civilized
relations, the conference participants take the view that the regional
concept of security in the form of army poliical blocs does not
correspond to global challenges and the parameters of development
of security and stability in the region. <…> We proceed from the
fundamental principle that global security directly depends on the
level of good-neighbourly relations of regional countries <…>.

The conference participants appeal to the heads of states, parliaments,
governments, political organizations and NGOs of Caucasus and the
Middle East to present the ideas and proposals laid out in the
Declaration’s text to their societies for discussion. We hope to
launch a constructive dialog in the name of implementing a program
of stable peace and development in Caucasus and the Middle East".