YEREVAN (Panorama.am) — Armenian President Armen Sarkissian participated on December 10 at the Third Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide which is dedicated to the issues of prevention through education.
In his welcoming remarks, after wishing the participants of the international forum “bari luys” in Armenian, Sarkissian noted that in Armenian, “bari lyus” means not only “good morning” but also “good” or “kind light.”
The full text of the president’s speech released by the presidential office runs as follows:
“The fight between light and darkness is happening even today. This Forum is meant to fight against that very darkness and evil. There are multiple components which the evil manifests itself through: the way we treat our beloved home, our planet Earth, rights of the people of different race, sexual orientation, or religion. Unfortunately, evil is not always defeated.
In the 21st century, in the epicenter of very rapidly changing events, everything that is taking place on this planet, whether good or bad, spreads instantly, forms roots, and acquires followers. I will not call it revolution, industrial revolution. Now we are entering other era which is rather a rapid evolution. The greatest evil of that era is the crime of genocide which, unfortunately, also finds a breeding ground. Obviously, it will not cease to exist if don’t fight against it.
Before turning to the lighter side, I would like to talk about this Forum. Probably, there are two or three places in the world where such a forum can be held. Regrettably, Armenia is one of them because Armenians, as a nation, suffered the pain of genocide.