“Diaspora Summer School” Program, Tsakhkadzor-2013 (retrospective glance)

As part of the 2013 “Diaspora Summer School” Program, the RA Ministry of Diaspora and Yerevan State University organized courses for young journalists and leaders in beautiful Tsakhkadzor from July 22nd to August 2nd.
The courses brought together 12 journalists from the Armenian communities of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Syria, Lebanon, Iran and Romania.
The courses were well-organized and very interesting. They were hosted by very skillful and experienced teachers, historians and political scientists from Armenia and abroad, as well as well-known TV personalities and media representatives. All the courses were held in a warm atmosphere and included a question-and-answer session.
The participants of the courses for young leaders often attended the lectures for journalists and made the question-and-answer sessions much more interesting. Based on the questions raised by the youth, it appeared that they were concerned about and familiar with every issue. All the youth were patriotic and were concerned about the issues and challenges facing Armenia, just like their brothers and sisters living in Armenia. All the participants tried to find the answers to all the questions together.
There were also singing and dance courses that were motivated thanks to Gayane and Lilit, who taught the patriotic songs and made the youth long for and take pride in the homeland.
Going back to the lectures, I would like to recall the very interesting lectures by Professor of the Head of the Department of Philosophy at Yerevan State University, Mr. Alexander Manasyan about the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which were sometimes interrupted by the youth’s appropriate questions and ended with Manasyan’s correct answers. We also attentively listened to the lectures by Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies Ruben Safrastyan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Armenian Studies Mher Hovhannisyan, Head of the Department of World History of the YSU Faculty of History Albert Stepanyan, Head of the Department for Armenian Communities of the CIS at the RA Ministry of Diaspora Andranik Arshakyan, Vice-Dean of the YSU Faculty of Journalism Anahit Menemshyan, commentator for the First News Agency of the Republic of Armenia, journalist Abraham Gasparyan, Head of ArmenPress news agency Aram Ananyan, U.S.-based online news correspondent, advertising specialist Armen Hareyan and information technologies expert Samvel Martirosyan.
We also held roundtable discussions with the mentioned experts and watched very instructive videos.
The young journalists also held a teleconference with Editor of Lebanon’s Aztag Daily Shahan Kantaharian, which was organized by Head of the Department of Media and Public Relations at the RA Ministry of Diaspora, Mrs. Evelina Baghdasaryan.
The meeting with RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan was held in a very warm and friendly atmosphere. After the meeting, Mrs. Hakobyan had private talks with the leaders of youth organizations and journalists, wished that they visit Armenia more often and never forget that the country belongs to them and that they have to feel more Armenian every time they return.
The participants of the courses also had interesting and meaningful meetings with Doctor of Historical Sciences of the RA National Academy of Sciences, Professor, Rector of Yerevan State University Aram Simonyan, RA Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shavarsh Kocharyan and President of Modus Vivendi Center Ara Papyan. Dean of the Faculty of Journalism at Yerevan State University, Mr. Naghash Martirosyan greeted the journalists and held a warm conversation with them.
The Diaspora Armenian leaders and journalists also visited the residence of the President of the Republic of Armenia where they had a meeting with Chief of Staff of the President, Mr. Vigen Sargsyan, who gave his welcoming remarks and answered all the questions concerning the gathered.
The participants of the summer school program also visited the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Oshakan and Yerablur Pantheon where we all experienced very touching moments.
The correspondent for “Hayern Aysor” electronic newspaper of the RA Ministry of Diaspora, the lovely Lusine Abrahamyan was with us during almost all the courses.
The last day of the summer school program ended with a concert featuring performances of Armenian songs and dances, Armenian poetry and rounds of applause.
One of the important advantages and achievements of the summer school program was that all the participants established strong ties that will continue and will further reinforce the bridge between Armenia and the Diaspora so that all Armenians living abroad never forget their identity, roots, the Armenian culture and traditions and take pride in being Armenian in any part of the world.
Madlen Ter-Ghukasyan, Romania