5TH THREE-DAY INTERNATIONAL FORUM “AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT ARARAT” KICKS OFF

2015-03-18 17:13:00 | News

The fifth, three-day international media forum entitled “At the Foot
of Mount Ararat” kicked off in Yerevan on March 18.

The main topic of the forum, which has brought together more than 200
journalists from 34 countries, is the Armenian Genocide perpetrated
by the Ottoman Empire in Western Armenia and other territories of
the Ottoman Empire a century ago.

The panel discussions of the forum with the slogan “I Remember
and Demand” are four principles, including remembrance, gratitude,
international struggle for recognition of genocides and renaissance,
and this is the logic for the events dedicated to the Centennial of
the Armenian Genocide.

The discussions on the first day were devoted to the key issues of the
Armenian Diaspora today, cyber-security, reparations for the damage
caused by the Armenian Genocide, economic policies and other issues.

RA President Serzh Sargsyan greeted the gathered and gave a speech
in which he touched upon the activities of the State Commission
on Coordination of the events for the commemoration of the 100th
anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and mentioned the following:
“It is obvious that in our days, media outlets have huge potential
to disseminate universal values, fight against their encroachment
and consolidate the international community. Today, a highly
representative group of international media outlets has gathered
under the same roof. You have already built an effective media
platform for the discussions pertaining to the Armenian Genocide with
the objective to once again uncover the realities regarding one of
the most serious crimes committed in the 20th century. This forum,
why not, is also a unique platform to thoroughly and comprehensively
present the achievements of the Republic of Armenia in various areas,
and challenges faced by our country.”

The President of the Republic of Armenia also answered questions
concerning the participants of the forum.

Chief of Staff of the RA President, general coordinator for the events
dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide Vigen Sargsyan
gave a speech in which he recalled the claim of genocide scholars
that the genocide won’t end as long as it continues to be denied,
emphasized the fact that Turkey continues its policy of hostility
against Armenia and brought up the example of the closed border with
Armenia and the anti-Armenian position that Ankara expresses within
international organizations.

Touching upon the Armenians living in Turkey, RA Minister of Diaspora
Hranush Hakobyan mentioned that there are approximately 3 million
Armenians, most of whom have been compelled to hide their identity.

“There are now Armenians living two different lifestyles. They live
as Turks until 18:00, and then they live as Armenians at home,”
the minister stated.

The RA Minister of Diaspora called on the participants of the media
forum to reflect on the consequences of the Armenian Genocide and
emphasized the following: “Diaspora Armenians continue to suffer the
consequences of the Armenian Genocide because all Diaspora Armenians
spend tremendous amounts of money and spiritual resources to achieve
justice, and who has “counted” that suffering? Turkey overtly
falsifies its own history and world history, and this is an issue
that we need to treat seriously. All Armenians won’t keep silent and
will continue the struggle for recognition and condemnation of the
Armenian Genocide. They won’t keep silent because the memories of
their tortured ancestors will always trouble the generations.”

Talking about the problems with Armenia’s economic development,
Minister of Economy Karen Tchshmarityan mentioned that the closed
borders, the external factors and the economic turmoil in the 1990s
have had their impact on the country’s economy.

Discussing with the participants of the media forum the problems with
cyber security in terms of freedom of speech, information security
expert Ruben Muradyan reminded everyone that the 24th of April will
be one of the important dates for Turkish and Azerbaijani hackers to
hack Armenian websites and introduced the illegal tools and certain
elements of censure applied to silence the opponent.

Director of the Public Relations and Information Center of the
Structure of the President of the Republic of Armenia Ara Saghatelyan
mentioned that Turkey doesn’t have access to many Armenian and
international websites and that this doesn’t provide Turks with the
opportunity to confront their past.

President of Cooperation between Journalists Media Congress Ashot
Jazoyan said he was pleased to note that most of the more than 20
journalists participating in the forum were visiting Armenia for the
first time and that becoming familiar with the mythical land will
help form a real opinion not only about the issue being discussed at
the forum, but Armenian culture as well.

The international media forum continues.