On November 20, the RA Ministry of Diaspora held a teleconference with representatives of the Armenian community of Uzbekistan. The teleconference was moderated by Head of the Department of Armenian Communities of the CIS countries Tevos Nersisyan.

RA Deputy Minister of Diaspora Serzh Srapionyan greeted the participants of the teleconference and conveyed RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan’s welcoming message in which the following was particularly stated: “Our key objective is to preserve the Armenian identity in the Armenian Diaspora. we believe that consolidation around the Armenian Church has served as the guarantee for our nation’s survival for centuries. Don’t forget that the Homeland is always with you and will do everything possible to support you. Together we are one force and can resist all the current challenges. We have to live, survive and build our homeland.”

Greeting the participants of the teleconference, president of the Armenian National Cultural Center of Uzbekistan Martin Setyan presented the Armenian community’s needs and problems and mentioned that the 60,000-member community is strong and stands united as one. Setyan also expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Diaspora for the textbooks that were sent to the community. The community’s representative expressed his concerns about the lack of a diplomatic representation and the difficulties that the lack of air communication between Tashkent and Yerevan has caused.

Head of the Division for Scientific and Educational Programs of the Department of All-Armenian Programs Sirvard Hambaryan presented the pan-Armenian programs of the RA Ministry of Diaspora and attached importance to the Uzbek-Armenian community’s participation in those programs, particularly the 2014 Awards “For notable contribution to the preservation of the Armenian identity” and the “Diaspora” Summer School Program.

The ministry’s representatives and the members of the community discussed the nation’s priorities declared as an ideological basis for Armenia-Diaspora partnership during the 5^th Armenia-Diaspora Conference and the efforts aimed at implementing those priorities, the Uzbek-Armenian community’s participation in the program for support to the solution to educational and cultural issues facing Armenian communities in the CIS and issues relating to the events ahead of the Centennial of the Armenian Genocide. During the discussion, president of the Armenian National Cultural Center of Uzbekistan Martin Setyan was joined by Editor of the “Depi Apaga” (Towards the Future) magazine Georgi Sahakov, president of the Armenian Cultural Center of Tashkent Karine Martirosyan, as well as the principal and teachers of the Armenian Sunday school in Tashkent.

The teleconference ended with a speech by Head of the Division for Relations with Armenian Communities of Central Asian Countries of the Department of Armenian Communities of the CIS A. Zohrabyan who called for closer cooperation with the Ministry of Diaspora for the benefit of the homeland that we share and for joint solutions to the issues of pan-Armenian significance.