Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan issued an address to the participants of the international symposium “The Armenian Genocide-100: From Recognition to Reparation” taht kicked off in Yerevan today. The message reads:

Dear participants of the symposium,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

I heartily welcome you on the occasion of the opening of the international symposium titled “The Armenian Genocide-100: From Recognition to Reparation.”

Back in 1916, great French writer and humanitarian Anatole France wrote: “Armenia is dying, but it will survive. The little blood that is left is precious blood that will give birth to a heroic generation. A nation that does not want to die does not die”. Yes, our nation survived, revived, rebuilt its statehood and today presents itself as a claimant that claims for justice, and this supposes a serious preparatory, including an exploratory work.

It is no accident that scientific research conferences occupy a unique place in the list of numerous events to mark the Armenian Genocide Centennial. I think today’s symposium differs in a sense that along with bearing the subheading “From Recognition to Reparation” and being devoted to conducting further in-depth research on a wide range of Armenian Genocide issues, it also lays special emphasis on the issues of eliminating the effects of that gravest crime and on the reparation thereof.

I would like to once again greet the organizers of this important symposium, the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia and Yerevan State University, and wish the participants fruitful work.