On the participation of the Armenian delegation in the 2nd International UNESCO Forum on Ancient Cities (August 14-17, 2019)

Preliminary translation, unofficial:

Under the auspices of UNESCO and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from August 14 to 17, 2019, in Ryazan, the 2nd International Forum of Ancient Cities of the World, over 500 years old, was held.

The Forum was attended by over 500 delegates and 1,500 guests from 55 ancient cities of the world from 35 countries: Russia, Armenia, China, India, Japan, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Georgia, Belarus, Abkhazia, Hungary, Bulgaria Egypt, Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon,

Vietnam, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries, as well as representatives of UNESCO and the diplomatic corps from 40 countries.

Thus, representatives of 75 countries of the world took part in the 2nd International Forum of UNESCO of ancient cities.

The main theme of the 2nd Forum was theater, as well as architecture, education and culture.

Topical issues and problems of studying the socio-cultural environment and historical and cultural heritage of ancient cities, preserving the architecture and original environment of the ancient city, ecology, cultural and educational tourism, creating a comfortable urban environment in ancient cities were discussed, and the problems of educating the younger generation in the spirit of careful attitude to cultural heritage and historical memory.

Deputies of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia actively participated in the Forum:

1) Martik Gasparyan – President of the International Independent Legal Expert Center for Reparations and Restitutions, member of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences, member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Chairman of the Armenian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences (ARMAEN), Vice-President of the International Academy of Spiritual Unity of the World’s Peoples (MADENM), Honorary Member of the Russian Academy of Arts (PAX), D.E. N., professor.

2) Artashes Mikaelyan – Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, Professor, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Parliament of Western Armenia on Finance and Economics.

At the Forum, Academician Martik Gasparyan officially announced and distributed the Analytical Information of the International Independent Legal Expert Center for Accounting, Analysis, Inventory, Audit, Qualimetric Assessment and Judicial Examination of Material and Intangible Losses Due to the Armenian Genocide for Reparation and Restitution to the Minister’s Open Letter of Protest Culture of the Republic of Western Armenia Yulia Gyuloyan addressed to the Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Odre Azule, when choosing the Republic of Azerbaijan as the country for I am holding the 43rd session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee.

The deputies of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia – Artashes Mikayelyan and Martik Gasparyan, participants of the 2nd International Forum of UNESCO ancient cities were given detailed and reasoned explanations about the policies of the Republic of Western Armenia (Armenia) in the field of preservation and development of the cultural heritage of mankind, as well as only on irrefutable facts and expert legal assessments, the situation with the targeted destruction and appropriation of the cultural heritage of the indigenous peoples of the Greater Middle East oka – Armenians, Assyrians, Greeks, Talysh, Lezghins and other peoples, from the alternating governments of the Republic of Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan, guilty of organizing and conducting the Genocide and deportation of Armenians in Western Armenia, Cilicia, the Ottoman Empire, Eastern Armenia, Artsakh ( Nagorno-Karabakh and Plain), Nakhichevan, the Western Caspian, which continues to this day. They also committed these crimes against the Greeks, Assyrians, Talysh and other peoples.

Academician Martik Yurikovich Gasparyan presented the following presentation reports at the plenary meetings of the 2nd Forum:

1) “Theatrical life of the Armenian city of Goris: from a natural monument – an underground cave amphitheater to the present day”;

2) “The place of artists in the more than 2000-year history of the Armenian theater.” (at the same time, the paintings of the world famous artist Shmavon Shmavonyan were presented as a gift to the city and region);

3) “The cultural heritage of the city of Goris – past, present and future.” (within the framework of the International Architectural Conference “Ancient Cities and Modern Challenges”, https://rounb.ru/uploads/userfiles/pdf/2019/mezhdunarodnaya-arhitekturnaya-konferenciya-programma.pdf);

4) “Creating a comfortable urban environment in ancient cities: good practices.” (at the International Dialogue. Some initiatives for the 2nd International Forum of Ancient Cities in Ryazan from Goris, the cultural capital of the CIS in 2018);

5) “The cultural heritage of Goris in the world of civilizations.”
(Sectional meetings. Section 1. “Innovative ways to preserve the history and culture of ancient cities.”
“Goris’s cultural heritage in the world of civilizations”,
Thematic workshops, Workshop 1. “Innovative Ways to Preserve History and Culture of Ancient Cities”.);

6) “The story of the creation of the film by A. Beknazarov“ Zangezur ”, according to the script by the same name of the Armenian singer Axel Bakunts“ Zangezur ”to the music of Aram Ilyich Khachaturian.”
(showing a fragment from a film related to Ryazan – the tsarist soldier Nikita plays and sings on a balalaika that will take Anyuta, who is in love, to Ryazan);

7) “Tincture from the” Queen of Berries “(or the importance of the Goris mulberry Karahundzh) and national dishes of the residents of the Armenian city of Goris.” (transfer to the forum participants of a six-kilogram cake-book (decorated by Armenian chefs in the style of a manuscript book) with the words “Yes Shagane, you are my Shagane” by Sergey Yesenin, tinctures from the “Queen of Berries” with landscapes of Zangezur, wine and pickle “Chykhtytu” for the exchange. Exchange contacts in the framework of the 2nd Business Forum “International Business Days in the Ryazan Region”).

During the 2nd Forum, Artashes Mikayelyan and Martik Gasparyan were donated:

1. Ryazan State University named after Sergei Yesenin;
2. The State Museum-Reserve S.A. Yesenin;
3. Ryazan Regional Universal Scientific Library (RNUB) named after Maxim Gorky;
4. The journal “Modern Yeseninology”;
5. The journal “Yeseninsky Bulletin”,
books of the famous Armenian poet Tigran Artashesovich Grigoryan (originally from Goris), with translations from Russian into Armenian by Sergey Yesenin:
– Grigoryan Tigran, “Symphony of Immortality.” Poems, poems, study, translations, narrative prose / T. Grigoryan. – Yerevan, Zangak Publishing House, 2015, 324 pp., In Armenian.
– Grigoryan Tigran, “On the way to eternity.” Poems, translations / T. Grigoryan. – Yerevan, Zangak – 97, 2007. – 120 p., In Armenian.

Artashes Mikaelyan and Martik Gasparyan also met with representatives of the Armenian community of the Ryazan region, where they discussed issues of concern to the community, talked about their activities.

In the days of the Forum, a plenary meeting of the Association of Ancient Cities, an official event of the 2nd International UNESCO Forum of Ancient Cities, was attended by representatives of 36 cities from around the world.

The important initiator and organizer of the Forum, the Government of the Ryazan Region and personally its Governor Nikolai Lyubimov, as well as the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, unions of architects, designers, artists, theatrical figures of Russia.

Press Service of the National Assembly (Parliament) of Western Armenia

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Preliminary translation, unofficial

Lousavor Aavedis