13:08,
YEREVAN, MARCH 10, ARMENPRESS. The Future Armenian Convention – the first pan-Armenian citizens’ assembly – kicked off in Yerevan on March 10.
The Future Armenian is a public initiative launched by Armenians and friends of Armenia to create a common framework of understanding around the sustainable development of Armenia as a country and Armenians as a nation.
Over 200 participants will engage in discussions on "Historic Responsibility", "Armenia-Diaspora Unity" and "Growing Population".
“Today we are opening a new chapter in the history of the Future Armenian initiative,” said Artak Apitonyan, the CEO of the Future Armenian Development Foundation. “We are launching a highly important stage of public discussions, which is commonly referred to as a citizens’ assembly in the world. In a sense this is a new test in the Armenian arena but we are convinced that we will achieve success through joint efforts.”
Speaking about the development of the initiative, he said that the 2020 war made them once again think about the future in terms of “what kind of Armenia and Armenians we want to have and how to build that Armenia.”
Over 110,000 Armenians from 108 countries have already joined the initiative.
200 of them are now participating in the discussions.
Noubar Afeyan, a co-founder of the initiative, as well as Ruben Vardanyan, the former State Minister of Artsakh who is also a co-founder of the initiative, also delivered remarks at the event, with the latter joining through video call from blockaded Artsakh. Vardanyan said that the ongoing blockade showed that Armenians have a great demand for discussing ideas.