YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–"We often speak of Armenia as a country situated at the junction of civilizations which means that we should be the first to initiate similar dialogues," the Foreign Ministry’s public relation officer Ara Papyan said Wednesday addressing the last day of the "Russia-Armenia-Iran: Dialogue of Civilization" international scientific conference.
Political advisor to the Russian Embassy in Armenia Boris Belyakov stressed the applied importance of the conference which is in the connection between "the history of the conference subject matter and the urgent problems of the present-day world." The Russian diplomat called for the restoration of scientific ties between Russia–Armenia and Iran broken by force of objective circumstances. The conference–which was attended by Russian scientists–"played a positive role in this aspect as well," he said.
Closing the conference–Director of the Caucasian Center for Iranian Studies Prof. Garnik Asatrian emphasized that the conference held in Yerevan in fact became the first international symposium of scientists after the celebrated speech by President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mohammad Khatami in which he referred to the need for a dialogue between Russia–Armenia and Iran.
