President receives heads of delegations participating in Meeting of CIS Cultural Cooperation Council and UNESCO conference

President Serzh Sargsyan received today the heads of delegations participating in the Meeting of the CIS Council for Cultural Cooperation and in the international conference titled “Cultural Policy, Politics for Culture: the Role of Culture in the “Post – 2015” Development Agenda” which is dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the UNESCO.

The Armenian president welcomed the guests to our country and attached importance to the thorough professional discussions on cultural issues held in Yerevan during these days within the frames of the CIS Council for Cultural Cooperation and the UNESCO international conference, stressing that nothing unites people as completely as culture. “We pay close attention to cultural policy, including cultural diplomacy. Our task is to preserve the ages-old values created by our people all over the world, and, of course, to preserve and develop, give the opportunity to create new values in the territory of Armenia regardless of national origin. I am glad that we continue to intensify cooperation with the UNESCO, and, of course, our cultural collaboration within the frame of the CIS,” said President Serzh Sargsyan, at the same time underscoring that the world has undergone hard and difficult times: on one hand valuable cultural works are created, on the other hand, unfortunately, extremists keep on destroying those irreplaceable values making part of world cultural heritage, and, hence, the president is sure the ongoing discussions held in Yerevan are very relevant and important.

According to Serzh Sargsyan, the international forum “Cultural Policy, Politics for Culture” and the Meeting of the CIS Council for Cultural Cooperation have filled the rank of a number of key international forums and symposiums held in Yerevan in the recent period, including the first global forum “Against the Crime of Genocide,” the Ministerial Summit of the European Higher Education Area, the 4th Bologna Policy Forum and the 12th Meeting of the International Association of Genocide Scholars which kicked off a few days ago.

The president wished the meeting participants effective work and expressed confidence that the document to be adopted as a result of discussions will reflect all the participants’ common goal to preserve cultural heritage and pass it on to next generations, stimulate intercultural dialogue and ensure cultural diversity.

At the meeting, RA Culture Minister Hasmik Poghosyan presented to the president the status of discussions being held in the formats of round tables and a plenary session attended by a number foreign officials in charge of cultural policy, heads of international organizations and diplomatic missions accredited to Armenia and experts in cultural policy, assuring him that along with a busy working program, there is also a cultural program for guests which will allow them to learn more about Armenia and the Armenian people, their ages-old history and rich culture.

The meeting participants expressed their thanks to the RA president for the warm welcome, the opportunity to hold such an important event in Armenia and for the support.

At the Presidential Palace, the cultural representatives and the RA president watched a film about the RA pavilion which was recognized as the best national pavilion at the Venice International Art Exhibition and won its Golden Lion Award. Afterwards, President Serzh Sargsyan awarded curator Adelina von Fürstenberg-Herdringen the Medal of Services to the Motherland for introducing Armenian culture to the international community in the due manner and for her major contribution to the development and reinforcement of friendly ties between Armenia and Switzerland.