RA FM: It is critical today to promote a culture of peace to face the escalating aggression and violence 

ArmInfo. " It is critical today to promote a culture of peace to face the escalating aggression and violence that we have been witnessing around the world," RA  Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazyan said at the 4th Ministerial Meeting of  the Ancient Civilizations Forum, quoted by the RA MFA press service.

"The culture of peace can only be founded on strong international  cooperation and the Ancient Civilizations Forum is an important  platform in this regard as it brings together countries with  thousand-year-old ancestral cultures and vast tangible and intangible  heritage," the Armenian Minister stressed. 

He highly appreciated the role of the forum as a platform uniting  nations and peoples with a rich historical heritage around common  values.  

To note,the representatives of Armenia, Bolivia, China, Egypt,  Greece, Italy, Iran and Iraq took part in the meeting, which was  chaired by Peru.  For the first time, a representative of Mexico took  part in the meeting as a full member.  

The Athens Declaration, signed by the Ministers of Bolivia, China,  Egypt, Greece, Iran, Iraq, Italy and Peru at the end of the Forum in  Athens, proclaimed the establishment of the Forum of Ancient  Civilizations (AC Forum) as an international institution. The  Declaration emphasizes that the important legacy of the great ancient  cultures of the countries represented at the Forum remains relevant  today, influencing the course of human history. The purpose of the  forum is to become a platform for dialogue and cultural cooperation  between the participating countries aimed at developing agreed  positions on issues related to the protection of cultural heritage  within the framework of relevant international organizations, such as  UNESCO, as well as the preservation of the historical and cultural  heritage of the countries participating in the Forum of Ancient  Civilizations and make the culture as an effective tool for modern  diplomacy. The Forum will be open for new countries to join by  consensus. The participating states agreed to hold a ministerial  conference, the Forum of Ancient Civilizations, every year. Peru  hosted AC Forum in 2020 and Iraq will host in 2021.