On August 6, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan received representatives of the Austrian delegation, which is in Armenia to participate in the 6^th Pan-Armenian Summer Games. The delegation included chairperson of the council of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Austria Rubina Ghazaryan and her husband, Hamrik Adam Mkrtichyan, the board’s vice-chairperson Martin Noravyan, member of the Executive Committee of the Pan-Armenian Games and Honorary President of Ararat Sport Union of Austria Sepuh Baghdoyan and his wife Shoghik Baghdoyan, member of Ararat Sport Union’s board Lena Hovivyan and member of the Armenian National Committee of Austria Karo Shadoyan.

Greeting the guests, Minister Hranush Hakobyan expressed satisfaction with the Austrian-Armenian community’s active participation in the 6^th Pan-Armenian Summer Games and stressed that sport serves as a unique factor for national preservation abroad and highly contributes to the preservation of the Armenian identity.

The minister also praised the efforts of the Austrian-Armenian community aimed at organizing events dedicated to the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide, which played an important role in the Austrian parliament’s recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Expressing gratitude to the minister for the cordial reception and appreciation, as well as for her support to various programs and events organized by the community, the guests shared their impressions of the 6^th Pan-Armenian Summer Games and emphasized that they were happy to see that Armenia attaches importance to sports and that it has many trained athletes who can keep Armenia’s reputation high in the world of sports.

Other issues related to preservation of the Armenian identity and cooperation were discussed during the meeting.