BOOK: Cross-analysis of school textbooks of the South Caucasus

Yerevan-based Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) with its partners “Caucasus Dialogue Foundation” (Georgia) and “3rd View” informational-analytical news agency (Azerbaijan) published a book: “Cross-analysis of school textbooks of the South Caucasus”. The authors wrote articles on the issues: the images of “Self” and “Enemy” in the textbooks on history of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, representation of “Others” in the South Caucasus secondary school history textbooks, what should be changed in the history textbooks, how to teach tolerant history and the history which will foster mutual understanding and trust-building. The authors are well-known historians and civil society representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The book is published with kind support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. 

The hard copy please contact Stepan Grigoryan: stepan.acgrc@gmail.com

ENP: EU Eastern Partnership: Visa liberalisation and mobility. By Stepan Grigoryan (eaq.sk)

(eaq.sk) I believe we need to cooperate with the European Union. And I think that the future of the South Caucasus is connected with Europe! Alternative to this is our countries turned into half stable systems, without democracy, with high level corruption and without a system of values (this we can see from the example of some countries in Middle East or in the Post-soviet territory).

What’s the main success of Eastern Partnership? Now it may be already said that Eastern Partnership is a better tool than the European Neighbourhood Policy because it includes not only cooperation between the European Commission and the Armenian Government, but also institutional cooperation of European Commission with civil society organisations.

The Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum was established on 17 November 2009 in Brussels. The best, most innovative recommendations given by participants in the Civil Society Forum were presented to the foreign ministers of Eastern Partnership member states on 8 December 2009. Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) also participated in that forum, and our proposal about visa facilitation for citizens of Eastern Partnership countries was submitted to the European Commission. Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum is an important innovation, since it lets to use the potential existing in Eastern Partnership countries. It also provided conditions for the multilateral dialogue – government, civil society and EU, and for cooperation between Eastern Partnership countries.

Armenian NGOs participate actively in the Eastern Partnership programme. There is a civil society National Platform of Eastern Partnership in Armenia. ACGRC is the active participant in this platform. Also ACGRC is the member of Coalition for the European Continent Undivided by Visa Barriers. This organization was launched at meeting in Warsaw on November 26, 2010 on the initiative of the Stefan Batory Foundation. Today more than 30 non-governmental organizations from different parts of Europe are its members. The coalition takes joint actions to speed up the process of EU visa liberalization with the countries of the Eastern Partnership.

Of course, Eastern Partnership may facilitate the visa issue, that’s very important for the youth, for non-governmental organizations and for businessmen. Eastern Partnership may also help in opening the labour market for some specialists in our countries. That’s very important for all of us.

It’s well known that Moldova and Georgia are seriously forward in the issues of Association Agreement and, in particular, in the agreement on visa facilitation with EU. However I would like to note that in recent 1 and a half year the government of Armenia has also started to work actively with EU on these issues.

The result of this work is that on February 27 the European Union and the Government of Armenia launched negotiations on two agreements to facilitate respectively the procedures for issuing short-stay visas, as well as the readmission of irregular migrants. The visa facilitation and readmission negotiations with Armenia follow the political commitment taken at the Prague Eastern Partnership Summit in May 2009 regarding the improvement of people to people contacts. The EU has already launched a Mobility Partnership with Armenia in October 2011, binding framework for managing movements of people, in which ten EU Member States participate (Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden).

We welcome that Armenian government activated its participation in Eastern Partnership and shows political will for realization of those reforms which are necessary for signing the Association Agreement with EU. For moving forward the negotiations with the EU on visa facilitation serious legislative changes are needed, serious reforms in such issues as police, migration service, protection of personal data, border service and etc.

At the end of 2001 ACGRC with his partners (Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development from Georgia, Center for Economic and Social Development from Azerbaijan, Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul” from Moldova, Europe without Barriers from Ukraine and Office for a democratic Belarus) realized monitoring of viza liberalization technical criteria fulfillment Pilot Project. The monitoring was initiated and supported by the Stefan Batory Foundation.

Apart from that, on 25 February 2012 ACGRC in cooperation with the Coalition for the European Continent Undivided by Visa Barriers organized a conference in Armenia “The EU and the Eastern Partnership countries: prospects and barriers for the visa liberalization”. The speakers were: H.E Zohrab Mnatsakanian (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia), H.E Traian Hristea (Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia), Elenoora Vergeer (Policy Advisor on Migration, European Union Advisory Group to Armenia), Joanna Fomina (coordinator of Friendly EU Visa project at the Stefan Batory Foundation), Boris Navasardian (President, Yerevan Press Club), Olga Stuzhinskaya (Office for a democratic Belarus) and Leonid Litra (Institute for Development and Social Initiatives “Viitorul”). The participants were well-known experts-analysts from Belgium, Poland, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova.

All these activities show that in particular Armenia actively works on reforms: only during last several months the parliament of Armenia ratified a lot of European conventions connected with the migration issues, readmission, struggle against corruption, transnational organized crimes, trafficking, spreading of drugs, personal data protection and also adopted new laws (for example on issuing biometric passports) and made changes in Criminal and Administrative Codex. The government of Armenia made several decisions directly connected with the negotiations on visa-facilitation.

All these speak about positive tendencies in the negotiations of Association Agreement between EU and the government of Armenia. As we think a new and most important stage is coming in the process of cooperation of EU and Armenia: the beginning of implementation of decisions made by the Armenian side. Here education of the staff (customs and border service, police and etc.) is very important and also their technical supply which must realize decisions of the government.

Author is Chairman of the Board of the Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) in Yerevan, Armenia. This report was made at the "1st EU-Eastern Partnership Forum" (March 22-24, 2012 in Tbilisi, Georgia).

INTERVIEW: Stepan Grigorjan beschreibt die armenische Sicht auf den "eingefrorenen" Konflikt (ag-friedensforschung.de)

(ag-friedensforschung.de) Es gibt keine schnelle Lösung für das Karabach-Problem

Stepan Grigorjan ist Vorstandsvorsitzender des Analysezentrums für Globalisierung und Regionale Kooperation (ACGRC), einer Denkfabrik in Armeniens Hauptstadt Jerewan. Der promovierte Physiker war bis 2002 Berater des armenischen Außenministeriums, davor Abgeordneter der Nationalversammlung. »nd« sprach mit ihm über die armenische Sicht auf den Konflikt um Berg-Karabach. Die Fragen stellte für das "neue deutschland" (nd) Franz Altmann.

nd: Welche Position beziehen Armenien und die international nicht anerkannte Republik Berg- Karabach in diesem Konflikt?

Berg-Karabachs Position ist eindeutig: Sie wollen nicht mit Aserbaidshan zusammenleben. Sie wollen Autonomie und eine Republik. Eine Konföderation, in welcher Konstellation auch immer, kommt für die Regierung in Stepanakert nicht in Frage. Darin ist sie sich mit 100 Prozent der Bevölkerung Karabachs einig. Die Position der Regierung Armeniens ist ein bisschen weicher: Jerewan befürwortet, dass die Verhandlungen weitergeführt werden und ein Kompromiss gesucht wird. Die Regierung zeigt sich offen, über alle Varianten zu sprechen. Allerdings besteht Jerewan auf zwei Punkten: einem Korridor nach Berg-Karabach und einem Sicherheitssystem um Berg-Karabach herum. Prinzipiell ist Jerewan aber bereit, über fünf der sieben Territorien, die an Berg-Karabach grenzen und derzeit von Armenien kontrolliert werden, zu verhandeln. Unsere Regierung ist in dieser Frage realistisch, im Gegensatz zu Großteilen der Bevölkerung, die der Meinung sind, wir müssten diese Gebiete nicht zurückgeben. Armenien wird Teile dieser Gebiete zurückgeben, wenn Aserbaidshan Berg-Karabachs Unabhängigkeit anerkennt oder einem Unabhängigkeitsreferendum in Berg-Karabach zustimmt.

Inwieweit ist Berg-Karabach von Armenien tatsächlich unabhängig?

Berg-Karabach hat eine gewisse Autonomie von Armenien, auch wenn beide generell in den meisten Punkten sehr eng miteinander verknüpft sind. Nur im Verhandlungsprozess, der von der Minsker Gruppe der OSZE geleitet wird, hat Stepanakert eine andere Position als Jerewan. Armenien und Aserbaidshan sind Mitglieder in der Minsker Gruppe, Berg-Karabachs Interessen werden von der armenischen Delegation vertreten. Armenien kann dort keine gültigen Entscheidungen treffen, ohne dass Stepanakert dem zustimmt. Berg- Karabachs Einfluss auf Armenien ist in diesem Punkt sehr stark.

Ist es in Armenien politisch korrekt, die Gebiete, die formell auf aserbaidshanischem Territorium liegen, aber von Armenien kontrolliert werden, als besetzte Gebiete zu bezeichnen?

Aserbaidshan spricht von besetzten Gebieten. Armenier sagen dagegen: Historisch gesehen sind das unsere Gebiete. Aus armenischer Sicht ist es ein Rekonstruktionsprozess. Übrigens werden diese Territorien offiziell von der lokalen Armee Berg-Karabachs kontrolliert. Jerewan sagt: »Wir helfen Berg-Karabachs Armee.« Aber in Wirklichkeit sind die Militäreinheiten dort natürlich gemischt.

Wie sieht Armenien die großen internationalen Spieler im Karabach- Konflikt: die USA, die EU und Russland?

Die Situation kann sich sehr schnell ändern. Doch im Moment wollen die USA, die EU und Russland den Karabach-Konflikt lösen. Alle drei haben eine positive Einstellung. Und alle drei stimmen in einem Punkt überein: Der Karabach- Konflikt kann nicht schnell gelöst werden. Russland ist zögerlich, weil nicht klar ist, was nach dem Ende des Konflikts passieren wird. Vielleicht treten Armenien und Aserbaidshan der EU bei und Russland verliert an Einfluss? Die USA und die EU auf der anderen Seite verstehen, dass Armeniens und Aserbaidshans Positionen sehr gegensätzlich sind.

In Berg-Karabach denkt man nicht in solch globalen Dimensionen. Stepanakert ist auf die Unabhängigkeit fixiert. Im armenischen Mutterland verstehen alle Russlands Rolle. Aber die Armenier erinnern sich auch daran, dass Russland 1918 bis 1921 die Probleme im Südkaukasus dadurch löste, dass es armenische Gebiete an die Türkei und an Aserbaidshan abgab. Aus unserer Perspektive beweist das, dass Russland auch antiarmenisch handeln kann. Heutzutage überdenken Armenier die alten Paradigmen, wonach Russland gut und die Türkei böse ist. Sie verstehen, dass wir auch andere Spieler im Südkaukasus brauchen, wie etwa die EU oder die Vereinten Nationen.

Wie wahrscheinlich ist es, dass der Karabach-Konflikt überhaupt gelöst wird?

Hier nur ein Beispiel für ein mögliches Zukunftsszenario: Aserbaidshan akzeptiert Berg-Karabachs Unabhängigkeit nicht, aber de facto ist Berg-Karabach unabhängig. An einem bestimmten Punkt treten Aserbaidshan und Armenien der EU bei. In der EU ist die Frage der Grenzen dann eine andere. Aber bis es soweit ist, brauchen Armenien und Aserbaidshan noch Zeit, um zu kooperieren.

* Aus: neues deutschland, 17. November 2011

BOOK: Agenda for Armenian Foreign Policy 2011 (acgrc.am)

Preface

This is the second book dedicated to Armenia’s foreign policy written by ACGRC experts. The first one – Agenda for Armenian Foreign Policy 2009-2010 – received substantial attention of Armenian and foreign experts, stimulating us to continue that work.

In the recent two years, the global political situation and the situation in the South Caucasus have changed significantly, and Armenia’s foreign policy should be adjusted accordingly. For instance, as Turkey refused ratification of the Armenian- Turkish protocols, Armenian government had to freeze the bilateral relations with Turkey. At the same time, some of our recommendations included in the previous book still remain feasible, so they have kept their place in this book too.

The complex global processes require from Armenian authorities and political elites careful attention to foreign policy, which must be methodical and consistent in its essence rather than spontaneous, and must also be able to propose initiatives.

Thus, the main goal of this publication is to review some of the issues in Armenia’s foreign policy and to outline its most essential problems, as well as to provide recommendations for the officials, who are responsible for the country’s foreign policy. The content of this brochure includes some of the issues that we consider important for contemporary Armenian foreign policy. We do not suggest that the mentioned topics cover all important issues of Armenia’s foreign policy.

This publication has been prepared by experts of the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC), who have significant experience of cooperation with international organisations, foreign experts and diplomats, as well as of participation in a number of international events organised in Armenia and abroad. Our experts tried to underline the most important issues of Armenia’s foreign policy and to present their views of the problems that our country is facing.

This book is published with support of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, and we express our kind gratefulness to the representatives of the foundation in Yerevan and the South Caucasus.


Stepan Grigoryan,

Chairman of the board of the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation


www.acgrc.am

full book (pdf) >>>

DECLARATION: Karabakh-Conflict

I. We, two experts from the Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijani Republic, in anticipation of the OSCE Astana summit onl-2 December 2010, before stating the essence of our forthcoming roadmap for Karabakh conflict resolution, declare
that:
1. The conflict resolution process has become more active in the recent two years.
2. Peaceful options of conflict resolution have not been exhausted.

II. We call upon the conflicting parties:
1. Express a common position concerning the basic Madrid principles.
2. Support the L'Aquila Declaration of 10 July 2009 and the Muscoca Declaration of 26 June 2010 made by the presidents of the United States of America, the Russian Federation and France.
3. Respect the demands set by the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the additional Protocols of 1977.

III. We have agreed on the principles and basic elements of a roadmap for Karabakh conflict resolution. The basic principles include:
. common benefit,
. complementarity,
. co-dependency,
. civil society's
will.

The first basic element is a white paper for transport in the South Caucasus. Among other elements, we accentuate measures towards confidence-building on individual and civil society levels.


Stepan Grigoryan, political scientist
Rauf Rajabov, policy analyst

Tbilisi, 23 October 2010

SCIENCE: Final communiqué of the Working meeting of the civil activists and historians of the South Caucasian countries.

(Tsakhkadzor, Armenia, 11 – 14 November, 2007)

We, participants of the Working meeting, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian civil activists and historians, emphasize that it is important and beneficial for the peoples of the South Caucasus:

• To organize meetings of civil activists and historians of the South Caucasian countries on regular basis.
• To have immediate contacts between professionals, as it would facilitate better mutual understanding, exchange news and important information about global and regional developments, and the developments in the South Caucasian countries.
• To organize more meetings of the similar format that helps to create an atmosphere of tolerance, respect, and mutual understanding between civil activists and historians of the South Caucasus.
• To develop cooperation in the areas where our countries have close or matching interests; the positive examples from the history of our peoples’ cooperation and coexistence should be the starting point.

After having the debates and discussions we, participants of the working meeting, state that:

• There is a need to create an online information network for the cooperation of Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian civil activists and historians;
• We are interested in publishing joint articles and essays in scientific journals and non-affiliated magazines, as proposed by some of the participants of the working meeting;
• The Tbilisi initiative of the Council of Europe, providing for a joint project on Caucasus History, is a positive example of cooperation of historians from the South Caucasian countries;
• This format is one of the directions for continued efforts of our countries’ citizens aimed to the development of civil society, finding historical factors that keep us together, democratization, and European integration of the South Caucasian countries;
• We are interested in a more in-depth study of the European experience in dealing with historical problems, on the examples of the French-German and Czech-German reconciliation, which will facilitate the process of universal reconciliation and creation of an atmosphere of peace and neighborly relationships in the South Caucasus;
• One of the results of our working meeting has been the creation of an initiative group for establishment of a South Caucasian Association of History teachers and lecturers.

The participants of the working meeting express their deep gratitude to those who initiated and organized our conference, with a special acknowledgement for Caritas France, whose support made our contacts and meetings possible.

13 November, 2007

Internet: www.acgrc.am

PUBLICATION: Essays on History of the South Caucasian Countries (A Multi-perspective View of History)

In November 2007, the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation together with its partners, Public Union of the Azerbaijan Historians and Caritas Georgia, initiated a meeting of historians and civic activists of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The meeting was organised with assistance of Caritas France.

Such a framework for cooperation was chosen because the experience of the recent few years’ developments in the South Caucasus had showed that many problematic issues in relations between the peoples of the region arise because of different interpretation of historical facts, different views and approaches to events that occurred in the South Caucasus. Therefore, it was needed to organise regular meetings and to develop cooperation between historians and civic activists of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.

The main result of the aforementioned meeting was the communiqué adopted on 13 November 2007. In the communiqué it was, particularly, said:

After having the debates and discussions we, participants of the working meeting, state that it is important and beneficial for the peoples of the South Caucasus:
- To organise meetings of civil activists and historians of the South Caucasian countries on regular basis that helps to create an atmosphere of tolerance, respect, and mutual understanding;
- We are interested in publishing joint articles and essays in scientific journals and non-affiliated magazines, as proposed by some of the participants of the working meeting;
- The Tbilisi initiative of the Council of Europe, providing for a joint project on Caucasus History, is a positive example of cooperation of historians from the South Caucasian countries;
- This format is one of the directions for continued efforts of our countries’ citizens aimed to the development of civil society, finding historical factors that keep us together, democratisation and European integration of the South Caucasian countries.

During the aforementioned meeting, the participants showed great interest for the working session dedicated to the experience of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian historians who had worked together on a book titled The History of Caucasus. That project was frozen in 2003 because of several disagreements between Armenian and Azerbaijani experts (we consider that one of the main reasons for such a failure had been the extremely different task assigned to the experts – to write joint history of the South Caucasian countries and to overcome all differences in approach). On the other side, the work that was done deserves close attention, because it was a positive example of cooperation between historians of three countries. We offered the authors who had worked on that project – Armen Khachikyan from Armenia, Aydin Aslanov from Azerbaijan and Paata Ramishvili from Georgia – to go back to the accomplished work and, using the experience they had gained, to prepare new essays on history of their respective countries, centred on a multi-perspective view. New essays would be based on the previously used materials, as well as would count on the new factors that emerged during the recent 10-12 years. In fact, that meant publishing the first comprehensive joint work of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian historians.

The newly-published book, Essays on History of the South Caucasian Countries, contains essays about the historical past of the peoples of the South Caucasus, from the ancient times till the establishment of the Soviet authority in the region. We hope that the book will be interesting and useful for the readers. The first part of the book reveals the historical context of the development of the South Caucasus from the ancient times till the establishment of the Soviet authority in the region, and the second part presents the cultural treasures of the South Caucasian countries. The book contains a number of illustrations.

Being addressed to both scientific and popular audiences, Essays on History of the South Caucasian Countries is addressed to a wide circle of readers, first of all, to civil society institutions, academics, state institutions, younger generation, as well as international organisations concerned with peacemaking and development of cooperation in the South Caucasus.

The authors worked on the book for near two years. They attempted to let the readers know about the main instances in the history of the three countries. It was important not just to provide some information, but also to introduce the readers to the neighbour peoples’ views to the same events, so the peoples of the region might develop tolerance and mutual understanding. Besides, the book provides different interpretations of a number of regional events, using a multi-perspective approach; in fact, that means having three different viewpoints on certain historical events. That is also important for readers living in the region, as well as outside, because they may see how contemporary historians from the South Caucasian countries interpret the historical events. It is natural that historians from different countries have different approaches according to their personal, cultural and national identities.

Such an approach has important characteristics:
1. The society of each country may get familiar with the viewpoints of others on the same historical events.
2. Historians from each country may have an opportunity to discuss the viewpoints of their colleagues from other countries within a scientific framework.
3. Being better informed will let the societies of three countries to develop dialogue.

So, the essays in the first part of the book may not match each other. Sometimes they may contain conflicting statements. As a result, any impartial reader will have to think. Any reader may choose one of the explanations for historical events, but it should be remembered that other explanations, which lead to other interpretations, also have the right to exist.

Finally, let us congratulate the historians and civil societies of the South Caucasian countries for publishing of the book, which is the first example of joint scientific work of academics from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia in the period of independence of our countries.


Stepan Grigoryan,
Chairman of the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC)

www.acgrc.am

BOOK: Positive Examples of Coexistence from the History of Peoples and States of the South Caucasus (antares.am)

Yerevan 2009

Positive Examples of Coexistence from the History of Peoples and States of the South Caucasus. Collection of papers by historians and analysts from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia (Yerevan, Armenia). – Yer.: Antares, 2009 - 140 pages.

Edited by Stepan Grigoryan

This book is published by the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC) with support of Caritas France. The opinions expressed in this book are opinions of the authors from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and may differ from the official opinions of ACGRC and Caritas France.
ISBN 978-9939-51-162-7

© ACGRC, 2009

Contents:

Editor’s note
Stepan Grigoryan ... page 5

Armenia
Haykaz Hovhannisyan. Caucasian Home: History and Reality Mikayel Zolyan. Armenians and Georgians: Divided By Common History ... page 11

Azerbaijan
Sevil Huseynova. Azerbaijanis and Armenians in Georgia: Spaces of Coexistence Sergey Rumyantsev.

Beyond Enmity: Everyday Practices of Mutual Help in Situations of Conflics ... page 33

Georgia
Tamara Sikharulidze. From the History of Azerbaijani-Georgian Relations

Liana Davlianidze. From the History of Armenian-Georgian Relations ... page 57

Armenia
David Petrosyan. Armenia Now: Inside and Outside ... page 87

Azerbaijan
Rauf Rajabov. Azerbaijan: From Financial Security towards Regional Priorities in Foreign Policy ... page 105

Georgia
Vakhtang Kolbaya. Georgia Now: The Situation after the Russo-Georgian War ... page 121


About the authors ... page 137

Armenia
Haykaz Hovhannisyan - Caucasian Home: History and Reality
Mikayel Zolyan - Armenians and Georgians: Divided By Common History


Editor’s note
Stepan Grigoryan

In November 2007, the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation (Armenia) organised, in cooperation with its partners – Public Union of the Azerbaijan Historians and Caritas Georgia – a meeting of historians and civic activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The meeting was organised with support of the Caritas France foundation in Tsakhkadzor (Armenia).
This framework of cooperation was chosen because the experience of developments in the South Caucasus during previous years had shown that many problems in relations between peoples of the region had been a consequence of different interpretation of historical facts, different perceptions and approaches to historical events, and because of absence of papers and
books on history written in cooperation by scholars from three South Caucasian countries. Therefore, it was important to organise meetings and facilitate cooperation between historians and civic activists from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
The main outcome of the mentioned working meeting was the communiqué adopted on November 13, 2007. The participants stated, particularly, that direct contacts are important as they let to understand each other better and to exchange information about global, regional and local processes; emphasised their interest in possible submission of common publications to academic and professional journals; stated that such a framework is one of the ways for continued efforts towards development of civil society, for searching common elements in our peoples’ historical past, and for democratisation and European integration of the South Caucasian countries; expressed interest in a deeper study of European experience of dealing with historical problems, which may contribute towards reconciliation and establishing an environment of peace and neighbourly relations in the South Caucasus.
Working meeting participants also expressed their distress concerning the reality in which the scientific potential of our countries is being used mainly for proving ancient roots and superiority of every people instead of working on common scientific and educational projects. Yet, science and education have a great potential for restoration of trust between our peoples and may serve as a fine instrument for development of neighbourhood and cooperation in the
region.
The problems are aggravated by the unsolved conflicts that make the situation more difficult. It is, therefore, very important to establish contacts and stimulate cooperation between historians and civic activists in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. There are many positive historical examples of coexistence and cooperation between peoples of the South Caucasus; study of such examples and making them available to our societies is an important task.
This book is a collection of papers about the history of relations between Armenians, Azerbaijanis and Georgians. The first part of the book contains papers written by prominent scholars – Haykaz Hovhannisyan and Mikayel Zolyan from Armenia, Sevil Huseynova and Sergey Rumyantsev from Azerbaijan, and Tamara Sikharulidze and Liana Davlianidze from Georgia.
The authors have done meticulous archive work and analysis, and found a great number of examples of positive experiences in coexistence of the South Caucasian peoples. It is interesting that such examples include both the short periods when Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia were independent and time when our peoples fought for their rights and independence, protecting their identities and culture.
In the second part of the book civic activists with expertise in different areas – David Petrosyan from Armenia, Rauf Rajabov from Azerbaijan and Vakhtang Kolbaya from Georgia – provide analyses of the contemporary political, socioeconomic and international standing of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia.
This book contains scientific and analytical materials and may be interesting for a wide circle of readers, first of all, for representatives of civil society institutions, scientific community, state institutions, journalists, young citizens, as well as international organisations working towards reconciliation, establishment of peace and cooperation.
I believe that the time has come for thinking over many issues and attempting to live in accordance with contemporary ideas and approaches. That is the demand of time and future of the South Caucasian peoples.
Finally, I express our sincere gratitude to the Caritas France foundation for supporting our initiatives and making possible publishing of this book. Stepan Grigoryan - chairman of the board of the Analytical Centre on Globalisation and Regional Cooperation.

July 27, 2009

Positive Examples of Coexistence from the
History of Peoples and States of the South Caucasus

«ANTARES» Publishing House
Yerevan–0009, Mashtots ave. 50a/1
Tel.` +(374 10) 58 10 59, 56 15 26
Tel./Fax` +(374 10) 58 76 69
antares@antares.am
www.antares.am

more here: www.acgrc.am

CONFERENCE: “European Union and South Caucasus – A Security Partnership?”

On 27 November 2008, this year’s largest conference was organized in the Great Hall of the Congress Hotel in Yerevan, with the topic: “European Union and South Caucasus – A Security Partnership?”.

The conference was organized by the Analytical Centre for Globalization and Regional Cooperation (ACGRC, Armenia) and German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP). The conference was supported by the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, German Marshall Fund of the United States, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and Robert-Bosch Stiftung.

Welconme speeches and reports were given by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Arman Kirakossian, German Ambassador to Armenia Andrea Wiktorin, head of European Commission delegation in Armenia Raul de Luzenberger, representative of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Liana Marukyan and director of ACGRC Dr. Stepan Grigoryan.

Reports on issues of interest for Armenian society were delivered by Dr. Arif Yunusov (Institute for Peace and Democracy, Azerbaijan), Dr. Seyed Rasol Mousavi (Institute of Political and International Research of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Islamic Republic of Iran), Armen Rustamyan (member of the standing committee on foreign affairs of the national Assembly of Armenia), Aleksander Rusetsky (director of the South Caucasus Institute for Regional Security, Georgia), Diba Nigar Goksel (senior analyst, European Stability Initiative, Editor, Turkish Policy Quarterly), Özgül Erdemli Mutlu (ARI Movement, Turkey), Vyacheslav Igrunov (director of the International Institute for Humanitarian and Political Studies, Russia), Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan (Country Director, Eurasia Partnership Foundation, Armenia) and Ivlian Khaindrava (director of the South Caucasus studies programme, Georgia).

The number of participants reached 300, instead of initially planned 150. Among the participants were ambassadors of Bulgaria, Germany, Iran, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Romania; heads of UN, EU, OSCE and Council of Europe missions in Armenia; head of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung office; representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia; diplomats representing British, German and Greek Embassies; Armenian political scientists, historians, sociologists, university professors; heads of political parties and NGOs; students; and journalists of the leading Armenian media.

Reports about the conference were broadcasted by a number of TV companies: Public Television of Armenia, Kentron, Yerevan TV, Shant, TV5, YerkirMedia, etc. Daily newspaper Aravot published a detailed report about the conference on November 28 and November 29. Reports were also published in other newspapers and by information agencies Noyan Tapan, Arminfo, PanArmenian, Armtown, etc.

more: www.acgrc.am