On November 18, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan participated in the grand opening ceremony of the two-day international conference on “The Issues of Contemporary Armenian”. The conference is organized by Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society and Yerevan State University.

The event began with an opening speech by Dean of the Faculty of Armenian Philology at Yerevan State University Artsrun Avagyan, followed by welcome speeches by RA Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan and Rector of Yerevan State University Aram Simonyan.

In her welcome speech, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan attached importance to the conference organized by Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society at Armenia’s main university and mentioned that the RA Ministry of Diaspora has carried out many programs aimed at contributing to the preservation of the Armenian language in the Diaspora for many years, including the “Diaspora” Summer School Program, the “Ari Tun” Program, the Electronic Library Program, the Western Armenian-Eastern Armenian Converter, the Armenian Language TV School, the Commission of Teachers to Remote Areas Program and several other programs that have helped revitalize the Armenia-Diaspora partnership.

The minister also mentioned that what is especially noticeable is the active partnership between experts of Armenia and the Diaspora for the solution to issues related to the Armenian language. “One of the severe consequences of the Armenian Genocide was cultural genocide, especially the assault against our greatest wealth, that is, our native language. Soviet Armenia developed a unified system of teaching and presenting the Armenian language and created Armenian language textbooks, and the linguistic processes were more elemental in the Diaspora. We can never forget the efforts that individual structures and organizations, as well as experts and schools have made to preserve the Armenian language in the Armenian communities of the Diaspora,” Minister Hranush Hakobyan emphasized.

The minister regretted to add that Western Armenian has been included in the UNESCO Atlas of Languages in danger and is “Definitely Endangered”.

Hranush Hakobyan set aside two issues that need to be solved. “The first issue is the issue of regulation of Eastern Armenian, which can be done effectively with the creation of the Supreme Council for the Armenian Language. The second major issue is the convergence between the two ramifications of the Armenian language,” Hakobyan mentioned.

The minister emphasized the fact that Western Armenian is the linguistic and cultural wealth of the Armenian people and the core of Armenian culture and that it always needs to be in the focus of the Armenian government and the entire Armenian nation.

Addressing the Armenologists and linguists participating in the conference, Minister Hranush Hakobyan voiced hope that the experts concerned about the issues would conduct situational analyses and make comments and suggestions that will help develop a complex plan for support to preservation of the Armenian language, the joint and simultaneous development of the two ramifications of the language and the development of paths for the enrichment of both ramifications.

Chairman of the Central Committee of Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Society Meguerdich Meguerditchian and President of the Hamazkayin Armenian Educational and Cultural Foundation Lilit Galstyan also gave their welcome speeches at the event.

Among the speakers were several renowned linguists from Armenia and the Diaspora.