OSCE OFFICE SUPPORTS DISCUSSION ON IMPLEMENTING EUROPEAN CHARTER FOR REGIONAL OR MINORITY LANGUAGES IN ARMENIA
armradio.am
26.09.2008 12:37
Armenia’s implementation of its commitments as a signatory to
the Council of Europe’s European Charter for Regional or Minority
Languages was the focus of a conference supported by the OSCE Office
today in Yerevan.
Organized with the Yerevan State Linguistic University in co-operation
with the Council of Europe, the discussion focused on Armenia’s second
report to the Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional
or Minority Languages and on States’ monitoring of implementation of
the charter.
"Protection of the linguistic rights of national minorities is an
integral part of minority rights protection, which is a high priority
of the OSCE Office. We hope the discussion will contribute to further
improvements in legislation and language policy-making in Armenia,"
said Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan.
Rector of Yerevan State Linguistic University Professor Suren Zolyan
added that the conference will further emphasize linguistic diversity
as one of the most important aspects of Europe’s cultural heritage,
and provide an opportunity to evaluate the Charter’s application in
the past and examine perspectives for the future.
Experts and representatives from the government and national
minority organizations discussed the results of the monitoring,
the achievements, the obstacles and the prospects in the course of
implementation of the Charter in the context of Armenian language
policies. The conference marked the tenth anniversary of the
European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and the OSCE
Oslo Recommendations regarding the Linguistic Rights of National
Minorities as well as the European Day of Languages, celebrated on
26 September. The United Nations General Assembly also declared 2008
the International Year of Languages.
The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was ratified
by Armenia in 2002. The purpose of the Charter is to protect and
promote regional and minority languages as a threatened aspect of
Europe’s cultural heritage and to enable speakers of a regional or
minority language to use it in private and public life.