‘Armenia at 21’ Conference Brings Together Activists from Armenia, Diaspora

NEW YORK (A.W.)—Armenian-American activists and community members converged at Columbia University on Sept. 28-29 to attend this year’s installment of the Armenians and Progressive Politics (APP) Cconference, dedicated to “Armenia at 21.”

A packed audience listening to activists and experts. (Photo by Nanore Barsoumian)

The conference featured 30 experts, activists, and academics from Armenia, Europe, South America, and the United States who addressed topics on the environment, foreign policy, economy, civil society development, and rule of law.

“This was a unique opportunity for grassroots activists from Armenia and the diaspora to exchange ideas and strategies to affect change in the Armenian polity. Looking at 21 years of Armenian statehood, they saw how far we have come but also how far we must still go along the entire range of social, political, ecological, and economic issues,” said Dr. Dikran Kaligian, the chairman of the conference organizing committee.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and war correspondent Chris Hedges spoke at the opening session on Sept. 28. Sarah Leah Whitson, of Human Rights Watch, and Arpine Galfayan, of the Institute for Democracy and Human Rights in Armenia, offered comments. Seven panels were held the following day.

The Armenian Weekly will provide detailed coverage of the conference and publish some of the papers in the coming weeks.

3 Comments

  1. I remember the first two conferences had full videos of all the panel presentations and discussions made available on the website. The most recent ones have not, however. Why?

  2. The Caucasus area is on the verge of exploding into a Third World War and this is what they think of doing? What a waste of time…

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