NCWA Meetings with Armenia Authorities

24 June 2018

A delegation consisting of Ms. Luciana Minassian and the NCWA president Mr. Souren Seraydarian met in early June the newly-appointed Deputy Minister of the Diaspora Babken Der Grigorian. The discussion focused on the current activities of the organization, particularly the work of the  joint legal working group and the 19 January initiative of the peoples of Asia Minor.

• The delegation also met Sahak Sargsyan at the ministry of foreign affairs.  While assigned to the Permanent Mission of Armenia to the United Nations, he facilitated application of Armenian NGOs (such as NCWA) for consultative status in ECOSOC (United Nations Economic and Social Council). The meeting with Vahan Kazhoyan could not take place because he was out of the country. Kazhoyan is the Director of the Department of International Organisations, Secretary General of the Armenian National Commission for UNESCO, and head of the Inter-Agency Working group for Combating Human Trafficking. The meeting will be scheduled in October.
• A delegation consisting of Harutyun Marutyan and Souren Seraydarian met Armen Kharatyan, the recently-appointed advisor to the Prime Minister. The meeting focused on the past and current activities and programs of NCWA. A written briefing was provided on the eve of the meeting by Marutyan in addition to an oral briefing and discussion that lasted an hour.
• It was agreed that regular contacts will be maintained with Kharatyan’s office to exchange information and harmonize their activities while observing the independence of NCWA as an NGO. It is the first time that we have a focal point in the office of the prime minister. Another colleague of NCWA will soon join the Prime Minister’s team. Meanwhile, Vladimir Vardanyan, the coordinator of the joint legal working group has been appointed head of staff of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia.

• The internal working group on legal affairs met twice. It was decided to hold a joint meeting with our Turkish counterparts in October 2018 in Yerevan. The meeting will finalize the draft document taking into consideration the views of the foreign lawyers. Participants were Levon Gevorgyan, Lucine Minassian, Vladimir Vardanyan, and Souren Seraydarian.
• A final NCWA meeting was held which was attended by Garine Gevorgyan, Arakadz Akhoyan, Harutyun Marutyan, Levon Gevorgyan and Lucine Minassian. It was agreed to hold a video conference of the council this fall or meet in Yerevan in the second half of October. Sevak Astruni, the secretary of NCWA couldn’t attend the meeting because he was out of the country.