ArmInfo. The OSCE Forum on "Countering and preventing hate crimes against Christians and other religious groups: perspectives from the OSCE and beyond" is important for Armenia in a number of circumstances.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian stated this at the opening of the forum on November 22, MFA press service told ArmInfo.
"Firstly, historically located at the crossroads of civilizations, Armenia has managed to form the deep roots of respect for other cultures and beliefs. Armenia the world's first accepted Christianity at the state level, Armenians are at the root of the formation of Christianity, while the Armenians had strong ties with Muslims and other peoples and countries. As Armenians know how the people, whose national communities live in many countries of the world, both the price of intolerance and the problems caused by discrimination and xenophobia a good opportunity to present the experience of the Armenian people," Nalbandian said.
Secondly, the Armenian people had to experience persecution in their own land as a result of foreign domination, including religious persecution, and after joining the family of independent states can not turn a blind eye to the suffering of those who continue to be subjected to religious discrimination and crimes on the basis of hatred. And in this context, Nalbandian added that Armenia actively promotes international efforts aimed at preventing discrimination and violence. "One of the latest achievements is the adoption in 2015 of resolutions by the UN Human Rights Council and the UN General Assembly on the prevention of genocides and the establishment of an international day of commemoration of the victims of genocides. This effort will continue. The opposition to the propaganda of hatred, intolerance and xenophobia was among Armenia's priorities during the CE presidency in 2013. While DAIS and other terrorist groups raised their heads, Armenia became one of the first countries of the OSCE and the United Nations, which voiced the problem of protecting religious and national minorities. Thirdly, holding this forum in Armenia is another step in efforts to raise awareness of the problems of endangered religious groups," Nalbandian said.
In this regard, he recalled the holding of two conferences in 2015 and 2017 together with the UN and partner countries in defense of the rights of Christians and for peaceful coexistence. According to him, Armenia also promoted other initiatives aimed at informing about the problem of protection of religious and ethnic groups in the Middle East. Nalbandian stressed that the focus of Armenia's attention was also on the state of vulnerable groups of refugees in the Middle East.