YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, ARMENPRESS:

The fourth international scientific conference on the history of book printing in the Middle East launched its works September 27 in the renowned Library of Alexandria. Seventy-five specialists from nearly 20 countries of the world, including Egypt, Armenia, the USA, France, the Netherlands, the Great Britain, Germany, Canada, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey, Azerbaijan, participate in the conference.

Press service of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Armenpress that taking into consideration the 500th anniversary of Armenian book printing in 2012 and the circumstance of proclamation of Yerevan a World Book Capital by UNESCO, Armenia had a special status of an honorary guest at the conference.

In his welcoming speech Director of the Library of Alexandria Ismail Serageldin referred to the historical path of Armenia, Armenian-Egyptian warm and traditional ties. He specially stressed the Armenians' role in development of book printing in Egypt, simultaneously attaching importance to world-spread Armenians' outstanding contribution to their scientific-cultural life.

Ambassador Melkonyan expressed gratitude to the organizers of the scientific conference on behalf of the RA Ministry of Culture for giving a central place to the Armenian theme. The first two sessions of the scientific conference were fully dedicated to the tradition and history of the Armenian book printing.

Within the framework of the three-day scientific conference an exhibition of the originals of Armenian old-model books selected from the collections of two important scientific and cultural establishments – Matenadaran and Museum of Literature and Art, was held in the Library of Alexandria.