Nalbandian: Armenia has become one of the first countries of the OSCE  and the UN, which voiced the problem of protecting religious and  national minorities

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.