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  • 5th Global Forum Of The Un Alliance Of Civilizations Kicks Off In Vi

    5TH GLOBAL FORUM OF THE UN ALLIANCE OF CIVILIZATIONS KICKS OFF IN VIENNA

    http://www.armradio.am/en/2013/02/28/11077/
    12:33 28.02.2013

    The 5th Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations kicked off
    in Vienna on February 27. The Forums aims to unite the international
    community against radicalism through inter-cultural and inter-religious
    dialogue. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon offered opening remarks. The
    event brought together high-level delegations from 136 countries and
    international organizations.

    H. E. Edward Nalbandian's Address at the 5th Global Forum of the UN
    Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna 2013

    Dear colleagues, Ladies and gentlemen,

    I would like to join the previous speakers in congratulating Mr.

    Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser as the United Nations High Representative
    for the Alliance of Civilizations and wish him every success. I would
    also like to extend our thanks to the outgoing High Representative,
    President Sampaio for his leadership and excellent work.

    I want to thank the Austrian Government for hosting the fifth Global
    Forum of Alliance of Civilizations in a city known for its historic
    multicultural traditions and for being a center of multilateral
    diplomacy.

    Being the first Christian state in the world Armenia which is situated
    on the cross-roads of cultures and religions for centuries has had a
    unique opportunity of interaction with various civilizations. This
    inter-civilizational interaction has enriched our own culture
    and contributed to the others. One of the main benefits of such
    a millennium long civilizational inter-connection probably is the
    tradition of respect towards other cultures, religions and traditions
    which the Armenian nation has cherished.

    Today 2/3rd of Armenian people live outside of their homeland. The
    survivors of the Armenian genocide are spread all over the world
    and today they inhabit more than a hundred countries - from France to
    Brazil, from Russia to Singapore, from the United States to Egypt, from
    Argentina to Canada, from Lebanon to India, from Iran to Australia. The
    Armenians created well-established, fully integrated communities,
    at the same time, with well-preserved national identity in four
    corners of the world. They leave a strong trace of Armenian culture
    on all those places they inhabit, as well as bear the cultures and
    traditions of those countries and civilizations. They act as a unique
    civilizational bridge between Armenia and the rest of the world. When
    we were organizing the Year of Armenia in France we presented our
    culture by showing Armenian cultural masterpieces collected from
    around 40 countries. This shows how deep the inter-civilizational
    relations can get in our world.

    When we talk about promotion of civilizations and cultures, about
    multidirectional interactions among civilizations, such indispensable
    notions come to our mind as diversity, harmony and peace, which
    should go hand in hand, reinforce each other. Eventually, the
    comprehensive concept of peace lies at the foundation of the Alliance
    of Civilizations. Throughout history lack of peace and most notably
    large scale of violence destroyed and uprooted entire civilizations and
    cultures from their ancestral lands. The ideas of annihilating another
    culture and civilization would have never been able to materialize
    if there had not been breeding grounds cultivating hatred towards
    diversity in those societies. It is not surprising that during the
    Alliance of Civilizations' previous Forum one of the points shared
    by participants was that peace-building requires trust-building.

    In order to ensure an efficient management of diversity, we agree
    that a responsible leadership is an imperative and thus we welcome
    the particular focus of this Global Forum.

    Responsible leadership in encouraging media pluralism and diversity
    of media content is widely known to encourage peaceful narratives
    in conflict affected societies. Firm adherence to this fundamental
    principle can positively impact on the conciliatory stance of
    populations. In Armenia we are encouraging media pluralism, an
    indicator of which is that our country is well ahead in the region
    according to the World Press Freedom Index.

    While translating our international obligations and political
    commitments into actions there is a need for responsible leadership
    empowered by a strong political will. There is a need for a leadership
    initiating reconciliation processes; there is a need for a leadership
    courageous enough to build bridges between peoples rather than
    artificially creating dividing lines based on civilizational, cultural,
    religious and other differences.

    Any attempt to add religious or ethnic essence to conflicts can result
    in dangerous consequences.

    Even nowadays we sometimes witness expressions of intolerance and
    hatred which remind us of the Middle Ages. Instead of such attitudes,
    responsible leaderships could use differences between civilizations
    to enrich one another by promoting inter-cultural dialogue.

    Respect and tolerance to other's ethnicity, cultural and religious
    heritage is one of the prerequisites of harmonious and peaceful
    co-existence.

    Armenia is joining the Group of Friends of the United Nations Alliance
    of Civilizations with open mind and strong determination to work
    with member countries to advance the positive message of diversity
    and civilizational harmony.



    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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