On April 9, the results of the 2014 Awards “For notable contribution to the preservation of the Armenian identity” were summed up during a solemn ceremony held at the RA Ministry of Diaspora. The contest was organized by the RA Ministry of Diaspora, the World Armenian Congress and the Union of Armenians of Russia.

The awards ceremony was organized as part of the events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide and was entitled “I Remember and Demand”.

The contest for the year 2014 was held in the following categories: “Defender of the Mother Language”, Best Armenian School, Best Article Ahead of the Armenian Genocide Centennial and “We Have Existed, We Exist and We Will Exist” essay contest.

There were 95 applicants from 15 countries, including the Russian Federation, Georgia, Ukraine, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Lebanon, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Argentina and the USA, andbased on the results of the evaluation given by the contest committees, there were 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd prizes. There was a total of 66 award recipients.

In her welcome speech, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan mentioned the following: “This year marks the sixth year of the annual awards “For notable contribution to the preservation of the Armenian identity”. The goal is to appreciate the contributions of organizations and individuals to the preservation of the Armenian national identity and culture in the Armenian Diaspora, as well as assess and appreciate the efforts of Armenian communities, cultural and educational institutions and the media.”

The minister underscored: “It’s clear that the contest for the year 2014 had to be dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, and the goal of all of our efforts had to be to engage Diaspora Armenians in the process of recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide as much as possible. It’s a pleasure for me to see that more and more Diaspora Armenians participate in the contest year after year. I believe all Armenian communities must participate in this contest, and I’m certain that this will serve as a unique impetus for the preservation of the Armenian identity.”

Minister Hranush Hakobyan expressed special gratitude to all the committees, mentioning that they had a difficult task and felt very responsible. The minister particularly praised the faithful work of Astghik Gevorgyan, who was the chair of the committee for Best Article Ahead of the Armenian Genocide Centennial.

The minister also expressed gratitude to President of the World Armenian Congress and the Union of Armenians of Russia Ara Abrahamyan and mentioned that working with him is always easy and effective.

“I would like to congratulate all the participants because participation is already a victory,” the RA Minister of Diaspora concluded.

In his welcome speech, First Vice-President of the World Armenian Congress Aram Sargsyan conveyed the message of Ara Abrahamyan to the participants. “The RA Ministry of Diaspora has become a familiar place for us, and it’s our pleasure to work with the RA Ministry of Diaspora to organize pan-Armenian awards and other programs of the ministry,” Aram Sargsyan mentioned.

Friar Garegin Hambardzumyan conveyed the blessing of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin to the participants of the ceremony.

Representatives of Russia’s “Noyev Kovcheg” newspaper and Argentina’s Spanish-language Sardarabad Weekly won the Grand Prize in the contest for media outlets in the Best Article Ahead of the Armenian Genocide Centennial category, and representatives of 11 media outlets received awards.

Granting the award to the representative of Syria’s Gandzasar Weekly, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan expressed special gratitude to all the editors of the newspaper for maintaining and preserving the Armenian print and electronic media outlet during the war in Syria.

Syrian-Armenian Dikran Pilavchian, Lebanese-Armenians Baidzig Galaijian, Ohan Bodroumian and Angel Misisian, Belgian-Armenian Agnes Dekoumenian, French-Armenian Emma Mardirosian and Georgian-Armenian Anahit Bostanjyan received the first prize in the “Defender of the Mother Language (individuals)” category.

Receiving the award, Baidzig Galaijian expressed special gratitude to the RA Ministry of Diaspora and Minister Hranush Hakobyan in particular, mentioning that year after year, the Ministry of Diaspora plays a greater role in the Armenian Diaspora since the programs of the ministry for the development of the Armenia-Diaspora partnership serve their goal.

Receiving the award granted to Ukraine’s Aragats national and cultural newspaper on behalf of the newspaper’s representatives, Ukraine’s former Ambassador to Armenia Alexander Bozhko mentioned that in spite of the situation in Ukraine, the Armenian community is actively preparing for the events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial and that the award will serve as a new impetus for the self-organization of the Ukrainian-Armenian community.

Representatives of the “Little Angels” Saturday Armenian School (USA0, the “ZHAF” French-Armenian Youth Association (France) and the Armenian Sunday School of Russia (Tatarstan) received the 1^st prizes in the “Defender of the Mother Language” (organization) category.

The 2^nd and 3^rd prizes were granted to representatives of eight organizations and one school from Russia, Georgia and Belgium.

The first prize in the Best Daily Armenian School category was granted to representatives of the Mekhitarist School of Argentina, the Yeraneli Ignatios Maloyian and Holy Unified Seminary of the Congregation in Zmmar (Lebanon) and secondary school N 1 in the Chaltr village of Russia.

Receiving the award, deputy head of the Zmmar Dprevank Seminary and the St.Mikayel Seminary, His Grace, Father Mashtots Zahterian mentioned that it was a great honor for them to receive the 1^st prize and that they would work harder to preserve the Armenian identity in the community and provide the young generation with an Armenian upbringing.

German-Armenian Clara Der-Garabedian and Ukrainian-Armenian Veronica Vanyan received the 1^st prize in the“We Have Existed, We Exist and We Will Exist” essay contest.

Expressing gratitude to the RA Ministry of Diaspora for organizing the “Ari Tun” Program and for cordially receiving them in the homeland, German-Armenian Clara Der-Garabedian mentioned that only after familiarizing herself with and growing to love the homeland through the “Ari Tun” Program did she write her essay that attracted the attention of representatives of German state organizations.

What’s important is that some of the award recipients transferred the sums of their financial awards to Armenia’s orphanages, educational institutions and for the treatment of a soldier injured on the border.

The participants also watched videos and viewed photos showing the results of the 2014 Awards, the participants and winners expressing their words of gratitude, as well as the award ceremonies of previous years.

The event included performances by members of the Mesrop Mashtots Speech Culture Center (director: Nadya Antonyan) and the Tsakhkazard Ensemble of the Araratian Patriarchal Diocese (artistic director: Lilit Grigoryan).