President Vahagn Khachaturyan sent a message on the launch of 'Armenia as a Civilizational Crossroad: Historical and Cultural Ties' international conference

The international conference "Armenia as a Civilizational Crossroad: Historical and Cultural Ties" launched today at the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia.

President of the Republic Vahagn Khachaturyan sent a message on the occasion of the conference launch, which was read by Presidential Adviser Vahram Dumanyan.

The message says:

"I commend the launch of the "Armenia as a Civilizational Crossroad: Historical and Cultural Ties" international conference today in Yerevan. Such events are more than relevant nowadays because the Armenian Highland and the South Caucasus have historically been a unique intersection and environment for the interaction and cultural combination of world civilizations and continue to be such now.

Armenia today is in a complex, historical period and at the center of no less complex events. From this point of view, such conferences are of the best opportunities to find new solutions and concepts, as I am convinced that science can be the guaranteed key to overcoming any problem, obstacle and conflict, as well as to discovering new prospects for development, ensuring civilizational solidarity.

Dear participants of the conference,

Marc Bloch, one of the founding fathers of the Annales School of historiography, the greatest French historian of the 20th century, wrote in his monumental work "Apology of History or the Historian's Craft": "The very idea that the past can be the object of science is ridiculous. The object of history is man, by nature, man. Let us say rather men, more precisely men in time." and then notes: "Misunderstanding of the present is the inevitable consequence of ignorance of the past. But a man may wear himself out just as fruitlessly in seeking to understand the past, if he is totally ignorant of the present." According to this logic, I am confident that the conference will fully serve the important task of more soberly perceiving and assessing our present, daily life, geopolitical realities through scientific research and study of the complex pages of our and the region counties' history, cultural and civilizational heritage.

I am also full of hope that the conference will feature programmatic and informative reports that, at least, will provide an opportunity to more comprehensively consider the relations and connections of our history and culture with both our neighbors and the values of world civilization.

Dear attendees,

Concluding my speech, I would like to thank all the organizers and speakers of the conference for coming up with such an important initiative and for choosing highly topical issues on the agenda of the event. I wish you fruitful creative discussions and success."