YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 24, ARMENPRESS. Anna Hakobyan, wife of the Armenian PM, was in St. Petersburg on a working visit, where at the invitation of Valentina Matviyenko, Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation participated in the 2nd Women's Eurasian Forum headlined “Women for Global Security and Sustainable Development”. Mrs. Hakobyan delivered opening remarks on September 21, as well as had a number of bilateral meetings with high ranking officials of different countries.

As ARMENPRESS was informed from the office of Anna Hakobyan, Anna Hakobyan emphasized the role of the forum for discovering and fully utilizing the potential of women.

According to her, the role of women, who are more peace-loving by nature and tend to deny violence and sufferings, is invaluable for mitigating the burden of our planet from major and small wars, humanitarian disasters, ecological problems, for finding some solutions for changing something for the better. Anna Hakoyan noted that women should not only raise their voice, but also take practical steps.

In this context Anna Hakobyan presented to the participants of the forum her initiative “Women for peace”. “The whole sense of the campaign is that we, as women and mothers, should consolidate and convey a joint message to all the actors involved in Karabakh conflict aimed at eradicating any military settlement to the conflict and to find solutions without shooting and without taking away the lives of young Armenian or Azerbaijani people”, she said, adding that human mind knows no borders and it’s possible to achieve even the impossible.

Anna Hakobyan told the participants of the forum about her meeting with the mothers of the 2016 April war victims, noting that they have joint her campaign and have called on the mothers of the Azerbaijani victims to do the same.

“Can you imagine mothers who have lost their sons in the battlefield, do not strive for revenge, but take their step for the sake of other mothers who enjoy the presence of their sons. I really do not know what kind of response to expect from Azerbaijani mothers and the First Lady. But I believe that together we can put an end to Karabakh conflict, making it a history”, she said.

Anna Hakobyan concluded her speech with a plea addressed to the participants to express their unconditional support to the campaign “Women for peace”, adding that the initiative will expand beyond Artsakh issue.

Nearly 2000 women from 120 countries participated in the forum.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a welcoming speech.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan