The Global Armenian Summit Concludes
20 September 2024
Anna Sochanska, Director for the Polish Diaspora at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, opened the final working day of the Global Armenian Summit. In her welcoming remarks, she highlighted key aspects of the Polish Diaspora, its communities, and the programs implemented by the Polish government.
The summit's proceedings continued with a panel session titled "Armenian Language & Identity in the Diaspora." The session featured Ara Gochunyan, Chief Editor of the Istanbul-Based Daily Newspaper Zhamanak, Stephanie Torossian, Head of School at the Hovnanian School in New Jersey, Hakob Matevosyan, Post-Doctoral Researcher at the Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS), Shafa Barzani, General Supervisor of the Kurdistan Diaspora Confederation Theodora Constantinidou, Head of the Service for Overseas and Repatriated Cypriots.
The session “Opportunities for Diaspora Community Development” featured Oscar Tatosian, the Republic of Armenia’s Honorary Consul in Chicago, Vaner Harutyunyan, Director of French-Armenian Council, CEO and Co-Founder of Passenger.am, Leo Moumdjian, Journalist and Media Host at UCL TV Channel, Hayk Gndlyan, Chairman of the Irkutsk Armenian Cultural Society, Rouben Koulaksezian, Founder of Little Armenias. The session was moderated by Armen Sahakyan, Founder & Principal Consultant at Polity360 Consulting LLC.
The session “The Next Generation: Engaging Armenian Youth in Diaspora Communities” featured Andre Yeghiazarian, Committee Member at the British Armenian Lawyers Association, Abraham Kulajian, President of the Armenian Community Association of Rio de Janeiro, Marie Gazazyan, Board Member and Public Relations of AGBU Sofia, Argine Badalyan, Founder and Director of MONTE Armenian Educational Institution in Germany, Svetlana Minasaryan, Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Anapa Armenian National Culture Center N.A. Ispiryan. The session was moderated by Gohar Galustian, Lecturer at SciencesP
During the Global Armenian Summit, the 17 Commissioners for Diaspora Affairs held a meeting led by Diana Hovakimyan, Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs in Poland. High Commissioner Zareh Sinanyan began the session by outlining the goals and expectations for the Institute of Commissioners for Diaspora Affairs. The meeting then included a discussion of future tasks and an exchange of experiences among the Commissioners.
The final session of the summit, titled “Expanding Opportunities for Armenia-Diaspora Collaboration in Repatriation & Integration,” featured Hovhannes Aleksanyan, Head of the Repatriation and Integration Department at the RA Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs, Vahe Sahakyan, Research Scholar at the University of Michigan-Dearborn Armenian Research Center, Arman Yeghiazaryan, Director of the Diaspora Studies Master's Program at Yerevan State University, Lusine Ohanyan, Head of the Strategic Programs Department at the Armenian Missionary Association of America, Hrayr Torosyan, Repatriate Businessman. The session was moderated by Marina Ghazaryan, Founder and CEO of M.A.M Armenian Online School.
Following the sessions, summit participants toured the expo titled "Armenia with a Different View: Resource & Product Expo." The expo featured 40 Diaspora organizations and 80 Armenian producers, showcasing their resources, capabilities, and products.
Evocabank is the main partner of the summit, and the "Armenpress" State News Agency served as the information partne