On February 13-14, the Armenian Genocide Centennial Near East and Middle East Regional Committee held a forum summing up the events held last year. The forum was held under the high patronage of His Holiness Aram I, Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia and hosted in the hall of Cilicia Museum of Antelias.

The first session of the two-day forum was convened on February 13 and was held with the participation of RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan, RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Lebanon Ashot Kocharyan, leaders and members of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Near East and Middle East Regional Committee, clergymen and members of political parties.

Before the session, the participants visited the Aram Bezigian Museum, which is devoted to the orphans of the Armenian Genocide and located in the “Trchnots Bouyn” (Birds’ Nest) orphanage of Gibeil.

Vice-chairman of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Lebanon Central Committee Shahan Kantaharian delivered his opening speech, after which leader of the Armenian Diocese of Tehran, Archbishop Sepuh Sarkisian moderated the session.

RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan delivered an extensive speech. Through a slide show, the minister presented the events and activities that had been carried out on the occasion of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide in different parts of the world, particularly in the countries of the Near East and the Middle East, as well as the achieved outcomes and the future actions.

Hranush Hakobyan attached importance to the activities carried out by the State Commission on Coordination of the events dedicated to the 100^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide chaired by the President of the Republic of Armenia and the 61 Armenian Genocide Centennial regional committees in 50 countries around the world. “All sectors of Armenians were mobilized, including Armenians in Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora. All Armenians came together to fight for recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and elimination of the consequences,” she said.

The minister mentioned that the RA Ministry of Diaspora had developed the program called “Events Dedicated to the 100^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide for the Years 2011-2017” and had provided information about the program to the regional committees. The RA Ministry of Diaspora held several community events, carried out political and advocacy actions and held cultural events and church ceremonies with the diplomatic representations of the Republic of Armenia, Diaspora Armenian organizations, pan-Armenian and religious organizations. The ministry also organized many forums, meetings and conferences, established museums, created monuments and cross-stones and named squares. There were also various kinds of community events, including torch-lit marches, a tree-planting ceremony, a candlelight vigil, exhibitions, festivals, concerts, commemorative events, literary and artistic events, plays, film screenings, sporting events and more.

The minister also mentioned exclusively significant events such as the canonization of martyrs of the Armenian Genocide, the Holy Mass that Pope Francis I served at St. Peter’s Basilica of the Vatican, the official April 24^th ceremony commemorating the victims of the Armenian Genocide at the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex, the global forum entitled “Mankind against the Crime of Genocide”, as well as the opening of the Komitas Museum-Institute in Yerevan and the Aram Bezikian Museum devoted to the orphans of the Armenian Genocide in Lebanon.

The Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia took an exclusively daring step, appealing to the Constitutional Court of Turkey with the demand for the return of the residence of the Catholicosate in Sis (located in the territory of the historic Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia) and the properties of the Catholicosate.

Out of the events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, the Minister of Diaspora particularly set aside the forums, conferences, roundtables, seminars and lectures that were hosted in 30 countries and sparked great reactions, as well as research, publication of books and the various kinds of events and initiatives carried out by the state and non-governmental organizations of foreign countries.

The Minister of Diaspora also attached importance to the advocacy efforts that Armenian and foreign media outlets made around the world and attached special importance to the international media forum titled “At the Foot of Ararat”. The minister presented the television programs devoted to Armenia and the Armenian Genocide that were shown, the artistic and documentary films that were screened and the books that were published in various countries, as well as the efforts that were made against the spread of misinformation and the anti-Armenian propaganda.

Summing up the results, Minister Hranush Hakobyan congratulated the participants of the forum on the 25^th anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, mentioning that the 100^th anniversary of the First Republic is ahead and that all Armenians must celebrate those glorious holidays with renewed unity and more achievements.

Afterwards, the minister talked about the future actions. “With the experience that we have gained and by combining our resources, we will continue to prepare for and mark the 101^st, 102^nd and all the other anniversaries of the Armenian Genocide with renewed momentum and activity. The proposal of the President of the Republic of Armenia to reinforce the “Never Again” movement and make Armenia become the frontrunner in the international arena in terms of genocide can become objectified, if we create an “International Genocide Research Center”, which will deal with examining and synthesizing legal, historical and international issues and, based on research, will present the necessary suggestions for preparing for and holding global forums. A global forum devoted to refugees’ issues is being organized this year. Panel discussions need to be organized in the regions as well. I believe that by combining the efforts of all Armenians, we can provide the top universities of the world with more professionals and encourage the preparation of experts (Turkologists, Kurdologists, Ottomanologists, political scientists, international law experts, international affairs experts and historians), and Armenian communities need to encourage the youth and help them receive such education.

Communities have compiled and accumulated a tremendous amount of memoirs, materials and documents that need to be elaborated and published in various collections, as well as publish the works and articles of foreign state and political figures, genocide scholars and artists in a series and try to create a library/archive to make the 100-year-old materials complete. It is necessary to sort and publish the materials that you have accumulated and your activities in chronological order.”

Concluding, Minister Hranush Hakobyan touched upon the creation of a Pan-Armenian Council. “Unquestionably, the State Commission on Coordination of the events dedicated to the 100^th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide became a brilliant format or coordinating the partnership between Armenia and the Diaspora. Today, it is clear that Armenians, who are reawakening, have a tremendous amount of potential, and the Pan-Armenian Council can become a major platform for gearing that potential in the right direction. The weight, decisions and recommendations of the Pan-Armenian Council will seem more reliable and will become more applicable, if the Council includes representatives of Armenia, Artsakh and the Diaspora and if the issues on its agenda become the priorities of all Armenians that were approved during the 5^th Armenia-Diaspora Conference.”

Minister Hranush Hakobyan expressed gratitude to the members of all the Committees for their dedication and the time and money that they spent to do the tremendous job that they did in their countries of residence.

Chairperson of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Lebanon Central Committee Seta Khdshian presented the initiatives that have been held in Lebanon.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia Ashot Kocharyan expressed gratitude to the Armenian community of Lebanon for the partnership and briefly talked about the participation and contributions of the embassy.

Afterwards, Dr. Nora Bayragdarian talked about the lawsuit that His Holiness Aram I has filed against Turkey in relation to the case of the Catholicosate of Sis and the steps that have been taken. Representative of the information unit of the Catholicosate of the Great House of Cilicia, Supreme Archimandrite Housig Mardirosian talked about the steps that the Catholicosate has taken.

Maral Nercessian (Jordan), Archbishop Shahan Sarkisian (Syria), Deputy Vardkes Mahdessian (Cyprus) and Roobik Karapetian (Tehran) gave speeches devoted to the activities that had been carried out within their respective communities.

By the proposal of Yeghig Jerejian, the attendees issued a special statement on behalf of the participants of the reunion-meeting, conveyed a welcome speech and expressed their support to their Syrian-Armenian compatriots who are currently living and working in dire conditions.

At the end, the participants of the forum attended the traditional Tyarndarach ceremony of lighting a bonfire at the Mayravank (Main Monastery) of Antelias.

On February 14, the participants took part in a Holy Mass and laid flowers in front of the Martyrs’ Chapel.

The first session of the second day was moderated by Sarkis Najarian and included speeches by Vrej Ter-Martirosian from Isfahan, Bishop Grigor Chiftjian from Tavriz and Supreme Archimandrite Mesrob Sarkisian (UAE), who presented the activities that had been carried out within their respective communities.

Among other speakers from Lebanon were representative of the ARF-D Central Committee and MP Hagop Pakradouni, Silva Liparitian (Armenian General Benevolent Union), Hagop Kerkerian (Social Democrat (Hunchakian) Party), Sevag Hagopian (Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramgavar)), the Very Rev. Raffi Msrlian, assistant of the Patriarchal Diocese of the Armenian Catholic Community of Beirut, Bishop Kevork Asadourian and leader of the Armenian Diocese of Lebanon, Bishop Shaheh Panossian.

Minister Hranush Hakobyan and Shahan Kantaharian delivered their closing speeches.

The RA Minister of Diaspora presented Seta Khdshian with the passport of a citizen of the Republic of Armenia granted by the decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia.

After the forum, the RA Minister of Diaspora and the participants of the forum visited the Residence of the Catholicos and met with His Holiness Aram I, who praised the activities of Minister Hranush Hakobyan, Chairperson of the Armenian Genocide Centennial Lebanon Central Committee Seta Khdshian and the participants of the forum and emphasized that the lawsuit for the Catholicosate of Sis “was not an issue about a land parcel, but a political issue.”

On February 15, the RA Minister of Diaspora had meetings with His Beatitude, Catholicos-Patriarch of the Armenian Catholics of the Great House of Cilicia, Father, Krikor-Bedros XI Kaproyan and President of the World Council of Armenian Evangelical Churches, the Very Rev. Meguerditch Karagyozyan.