INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE DEVOTED TO 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF MASSACRE OF ARMENIANS IN AZERBAIJANI TOWN OF SUMGAIT UNDERWAY IN YEREVAN

arminfo
2008-02-25 12:54:00

ArmInfo. International conference is underway in Yerevan. Before
opening the event, the participants observed a minute of silence
for the victims of the pogroms in the Azerbaijani town of Sumgait in
February 1988. The goal of the conference is to make a retrospective
analysis of the reasons of the national movements, ethnic purges and
violence in the Soviet and post-Soviet space. The participants will
touch upon prevention of vengeful aspirations.

Director of Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute Hayk Demoyan will make
a welcoming speech. Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Tigran Torosyan,
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan, Ombudsman Armen Haroutunyan,
President of Armenian National Academy of Sciences Radik Martirosyan,
Director of Caucasian Media Institute, political expert Aleksander
Iskandaryan, and political expert Levon Melik-Shanhazaryan, participate
in the event. Experts from Russian and Great Britian also participate
in the event, The conference will result in the resolution against
the growing intolerance and xenophobia in the South Caucasus. The
resolution, in particular says that NGO representatives calls on the
governments and parliaments of their countries not to allow displays of
intolerance to the history and historical heritage of other countries
and peoples, as well as the attempts to rewrite history. They also call
for taking measures to prevent destruction of cultural heritage in the
region that has become large-scale and is backed by the authorities
of the destroyer-country. The conference also calls for boosting the
consolidation of civil society in the region, studying the peaceful
settlement of ethnic and political conflicts in the Caucasus as a
dominant approach, and refraining from intolerance and xenophobia in
the negotiation process. The conference also calls on the governments
in the region to exert genuine efforts to establish inter-ethnic
peace and inter-religious accord in the region, the resolution says.