MISTAKES OF THE PAST, PERSPECTIVES OF THE FUTURE

A round table discussion titled “Mistakes of the Past, perspectives of the Future” took place on October 29, 2014 at the Noravank Foundation. It was organized jointly by Noravank Foundation and National Congress of Western Armenians (NCWA). The round table was dedicated to Armenian-Kurdish relations and their historical roots, modern realities, regional developments, prevention of genocides and other issues.

The list of speakers included: Gagik Harutyunyan, Director of Noravank Foundation; İsmail Beşikçi, a left-leaning Turkish scholar, publicist and sociologist; Osman Baydemir, Kurdish politician and Mayor of Diyarbakir in 2004-2014; Ruşen Arslan, Chairman of Board of the İsmail Beşikçi Foundation; researchers from the Department of Armenian-Kurdish Relations of the Yerevan State University’s Institute for Armenian Studies and others.

During the presentations of the speakers and following active discussions an emphasis was placed on importance of such matters as mutual awareness of the region’s peoples, prospects of their potential cooperation, development of Kurdish studies in Armenia, activities aimed at recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and overcoming the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Middle East.