YEREVAN, DECEMBER 13, ARMENPRESS. Armenia is going to host the Third International Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide, foreign minister Edward Nalbandian said in his remarks at the Greek foreign ministry, reports Armenpress.

“On the next December 9th the International Day of Commemoration will gain even more significance since it will coincide with the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. On this occasion Armenia is going to host the Third International Global Forum Against the Crime of Genocide in Yerevan. 70 years passed after the adoption of the Convention, but the world is not immune from this “odious scourge”. It is imperative to redouble the international efforts aimed at reinvigoration of the prevention agenda. What is happening in front of our eyes, in the Middle East particularly, related to the identity-based crimes against ethnic and religious groups vividly manifests the relevance of the Convention, which clearly establishes the punishable actions, including the complicity”, the FM said.

He said Armenia has been among the first to raise this issue with the aim of strengthening the international mechanisms in this regard. The further development of effective measures to counter hate crime and discrimination against Christians and members of other religions was the main focus of the recent high-level conference in Yerevan, co-organized by the OSCE Chairmanship and ODIHR with the support of the Armenian Foreign Ministry.

“The violence in the Middle East has not bypassed Armenians, who for centuries has constituted a part of the multicultural and multi-religious mosaic of Syria and the wider Mediterranean region. The Armenian settlements, churches, schools and cultural institutions were destroyed. Many of our fellow Armenians lost their lives in terrorist attacks, others were forced to flee. Armenia has received more than twenty two thousand refugees only from Syria, making our country the third largest recipient of Syrian refugees in Europe on per capita basis. We have also tried to reach out to the people who need assistance in Syria by continuous provision of humanitarian aid”, FM Nalbandian said.