FIRST CONVENTION OF EUROPEAN ARMENIANS HUGE SUCCESS

EUROPEAN ARMENIAN FEDERATION

for Justice and Democracy

Avenue de la Renaissance 10

B – 1000 BRUXELLES

Tel./Fax : +32 (0) 2 732 70 27

E-mail : contact@eafjd.org

Web : http://www.eafjd.org

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

October 21st, 2004

Contact: Talline Tachdjian

Tel.: +32 (0)2 732 70 27
FIRST CONVENTION OF EUROPEAN ARMENIANS HUGE SUCCESS
–200+ European and Armenian Leaders Discuss Issues of Importance to

Armenians in the EU
Brussels, Belgium (October 21st, 2004) – The First Convention of European

Armenians, organized by the European Armenian Federation on October 18th and

19th, 2004, was a great success, drawing more than two hundred European

citizens of Armenian origin and many European officials. The participants,

who included leaders of various organizations and concerned individuals from

sixteen countries, attended the debates organized within the framework of

three sessions dedicated to the Armenian culture and identity in Europe, the

relations between the European Union and Armenia, and the challenges of EU

Enlargement.
In addition to the many European and Armenian officials, religious

dignitaries representing the two Catholicoses of the Armenian Apostolic

Church and one civil representative of the Patriarch of the Armenian

Catholic Church participated in the Convention, as well as Mr Ruben

Shugarian, Armenian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.
During his welcoming speech, Mr Francis Wurtz, Chairman of the United Left

Group (GUE), the inviting party, declared that “regarding the Armenian

question, GUE has always supported the Armenian claims not only within the

context of the right to remembrance and dignity but also in accordance with

a peoples’ right to self-determination.”
The Convention covered many issues, from the European Commission’s New

Neighborhood Policy, to the question of the protection and the development

of the Armenian language in the Diaspora. During the second session, the

ambassador of Armenia to the European Union, Mr Vicken Tchitetchian,

presented Mr Demetrio Volcic, Italian Senator and Former member of the

European Parliament, the medal of Mkhitar Gosh, one of the highest official

distinctions made by the Armenian Republic. Apart from sessions, meetings

were organised between national delegations from different countries and

their permanent representation to the European Union, as well as the

European Parliament’s Presidency.
The Convention was concluded by the adoption of the Charter that Hilda

Tchoboian, the Chairperson of the European Armenian Federation, presented to

a panel of journalists during the final press conference. On the much

anticipated topic of Turkey’s candidacy to the European Union, Hilda

Tchoboian declared that “Turkey expressed through the Genocide of the

Armenian people – the very people who represented the values of

enlightenment within the Ottoman Empire – its rejection of European

modernity.” She warned European Union’s leaders against the integration of a

State that persists to express that rejection of European values through its

policy of denial and that through its attitude “threatens the regional

stability and the right to security and life of the Armenian people”.

Reminding that “in the eyes of International law and its practice, today’s

Turkey remains responsible for this genocide as a successor State”, she

concluded that we cannot “artificially bring  a people into modernity by

using external constraints.”
All documents related to the Convention, and particularly the Charter, will

be soon published on the website of the European Armenian Federation

www.eafjd.org