Today, the Armenian Center for National and International Studies (ACNIS) hosted a presentation on “Vision of Peace: Analysis of Opinions on NKR Conflict,” which was attended by politicians, political analysts, media and representatives of the public. The research materials, in Armenians and Russian, were sent to the seminar participants by e-mail. During the discussion, the Armenian version of the “Analyticon” magazine with the regional experts’ observations was distributed among the participants.
The presentation-discussion was opened by the chief editor of the ACNIS, Gevorg Lalayan, noting that the research is aimed at demonstrating the possible alternatives to the war that originate from the societies in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Artsakh, ways to confront the conflict, as well as the opportunities and approaches that are not present “on the agenda of external mediators.”
Stepanakert Press Club Chairman Gegham Baghdasaryan noted that the subject of the research was conducted in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Artsakh within the framework of the European Partnership for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (EPNK). According to his observation, the results of the research confirm that there are various, widely spread versions of the conflict. “The same results simultaneously indicate that the three communities are united by a series of common trends. Of course, there are also significant differences concerning the issues of the conflict,” the speaker noted.
Speaking from the opposition, Manvel Sargsyan, director of ACNIS research programs, noted that researchers ignored some of the key categories. In particular, according to him, the concept of the right has gone from experts’ attention. “But any road leading to conflict-reconciliation and solidarity will remain indefinitely if conflicting societies and peoples are unable to recognize each other’s rights,” Sargsyan said, adding that for many years, the rights of the public in Artsakh were officially suppressed, which led to war.
Later on, the founder of ACNIS, First Minister of Foreign Affairs Raffi Hovannisian, employee of Artsakh representation in Armenia Ashot Melian, Head of Women’s Resource Center Knarik Mkrtchyan, President of “Karvachar Scientific-Educational Center” NGO, political scientist Alexander Cananean, Chairman of the “Armenian Choice” Organization Armen Aghayan, Editor-in-Chief of Detecktor.am Edgar Vardanyan, Journalist of “A1+” Sergey Arakelyan, experts Hrachya Arzumanyan, Hayk Balanyan and others participated in the Q&A session.
Naira Sultanyan, Adviser to Peace and Development Program at UN Armenia Office, Karin Marmsoler, the EUSR Representative, and Marina Aramyan, representative of the British Embassy to Armenia, were also present at the presentation-discussion.