A joint seminar of European Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) bodies and Armenian National Committees (ANC) took place in Athens–Greece on January 14 and 15 to review activities in Europe–namely the importance of the role of youth and their invaluable input in advancing pan-Armenian issues. Also discussed were increased involvement of Armenian organizations and non-profits as an effective political tool–and increased cooperation with Europe’s political–academic–and public circles so as to make Turkey’s recognition of the Armenian genocide a fundamental criteria for its membership into the European Union.
Organized by the ARF Bureau–the seminar brought together ARF Central Committee and ANC representatives from Armenia–Austria–Belgium–Cyprus–England–France–Germany–Greece–Holland–and Israel. ARF Bureau Representative Hrant Margarian–as well as Bureau members Garo Armenian and Hagop Der Khatchadourian–and Megerdich Megerdichian participated–along with ARF Armenia Supreme Body Representative Armen Rustamian. Vera Yacoubian from the ANC Middle East also participated.
Several bodies representing the host country Greece at the seminar included members of the Athens and northern Greece ARF committees–ANC Greece–ARF youth–and the newspaper Azat Or.
Prior to the seminar–the Bureau members held a regional meeting with European ARF affiliated bodies.
Seminar participants presented regional reports and discussed a variety of issues related to European activities that are nevertheless pertinent to Armenia’s worldwide.