KHACHATUR ABOVYAN ARMENIAN STATE PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY

On May 11, the Faculty of Philology hosted Babken Simonyan, Honorary Consul of the Republic of Serbia to the Republic of Armenia.

During the meeting with the students and lecturers of the Faculty, the guest shared his thoughts about Armenian and Serbian peoples, presenting the age-old relations between the two nations.

Speaking about the Armenian community in Serbia which was formed in the 13th century and the similarities between Armenian and Serbian peoples, Babken Simonyan noted with regret that both nations had suffered from the same enemy. “I often say during my meetings that Kosovo is Serbian Ararat.”

The guest also spoke about cooperation between Armenian and Serbian peoples in various fields and stressed that special emphasis is laid on cultures as an important and effective tool to represent a country.

“Recently, a young Serb lawyer sent me a letter, saying that we have all the rights to liberate Western Armenia, Nakhichevan and Artsakh. We only need to prove to the world that we have lost these territories, rather than taken them,” Mr Simonyan said urging the attendees to make sure that the fight is perceived correctly: the world must understand our cause.

The meeting with the students and lecturers of the Faculty of Philology was frequently interrupted by Serbian patriotic songs to show the Armenian audience once again the similarity between the two peoples.