TWO-DAY CONFERENCE TITLED "COUNTRIES OF CAUCASUS AND NEAR EAST AS
POSSIBLE PARTNERS IN PROCESS OF FORMATION OF REGIONAL SECURITY SYSTEM"
STARTS ITS PROCEEDINGS IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, NOYAN TAPAN. The two-day second international
conference titled "The countries of Caucasus and Near East as possible
partners in the process of formation of regional security system"
started its proceedings in Yerevan. It has been organized on the
initiative of the World Armenian Congress. The conference is attended
by numerous political scientists and historians of the countries of the
Middle East and Caucasus. Tigran Torosian, the Speaker of the National
Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, and Gegham Gharibjanian, the
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, were also present at the opening of
the conference.
The conference was opened by reading the message of His Holiness
Karekin II, the Catholicos of All Armenians, which, in particular, runs
as follows: "We are chosen to look for ways in order to provide peace
and security in the countries of Caucasus and Near East, which will
enable us to contribute to the progress and development of the lives of
the peoples living in the region. The position of the conference is to
proceed towards the provision of general security through local
regulations."
Tigran Torosian, the RA NA Speaker, welcomed the participants and
mentioned that the aim of the conference is to unite the two regions
and to form a new security concept paper for the new region. According
to Tigran Torosian, it is, certainly, a too difficult problem, but one
should not forget how the European Union was created on the initiative
of the leaders of Germany and France at the end of the 1940s, whereas
those two countries were standing in front of a new war.
In the words of the NA Speaker, there is much work and the time will
show what can be expected from that initiative. "It is a difficult task
to unite two complex regions in any way, however, it is necessary to
find the very system of values, which is to be the basis of the
implementation of that idea and those relations," Tigran Torosian
stressed. At the same time he mentioned that if the firmness and the
prospects of the European Union are based on the system of general
values, such possibilities and such steps are difficult to be observed
in the two regions. However, according to Tigran Torosian, that region
is a region of the division of civilizations, religions, and cultures
and that division assumes a border, and the border under the
circumstance of a good will assumes drawing, dialogue, formation and
implementation of general goals.
As for the Karabakh problem, according to Tigran Torosian, the
authorities of Azerbaijan fully understand a number of circumstances
that if they start a war, the result will be what happened in 1994. In
addition to this, starting a war means to put them out of all the
international events and organizations, as well as to violate the
duties, which Azerbaijan has assumed by becoming a member of the UNO
and the Council of Europe.
In the characterization of Aram Sargsian, the Deputy Chairman of the
World Armenian Congress, the countries of the Middle East and Caucasus
are possible partners in the matter of solving this regional security
problem. He expressed hope that the latters can find the possible
variants, which "will make the zone of conflicts a zone of peace."
According to him, a Declaration will be passed at the conference, which
will be introduced to the leaders, parliaments and governments of those
countries, so as they they submit the ideas and suggestions presented
in the declaration for the discussion of society. In response to the
question of whether it will be read in Azerbaijan, A. Sargsian
mentioned that, at present, the stratum, which is ready to be more
tolerant, exists in Azerbaijan. "I do not think that the Azerbaijani
society will be glad for such a discussion, however, I am sure that we
should start such a dialogue as we need it," he stressed.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
