With the initiative of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, "Armenians in 2115: Strategic Directions for the Twenty-First Century" report is released.
In 2014, intellectuals and leaders of the society convened to discuss the future strategies of Armenians and dealt with some issues that direct the Armenian world. The content of the meetings was released to the public through sessions open to press that were held simultaneously in London, Yerevan and California on January 26. The first meeting was held in 2014 and the developments in Diasporas in Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan, Europe and Middle East were discussed. Strategic issues were discussed during this meeting, which is planned to be turned into an annual summit.
The purpose of this meeting, which is organized by Gulbenkian Foundation by gathering 40 intellectuals together, is to initiate debates within the Armenian world regarding some of the fundamental problems that the Armenian people in the 21st Century are facing. The report prepared by the colloboration of London School of Economics and Southern California University compiles the issue that were discussed during the meeting. Agos columnist Vicken Chetarian and Fatma Müge Göcek and Aris Nalcı from Turkey are also in the group of intellectuals.
"The great ideal"
The focus of the discussions are the issues like the relation between Diaspora and Armenian government and civil society, the relations with Turkey, the persistence of Diaspora societies and formation of the Armenian identity. These issues are dealt in the context of some probable scenarios. Some of these scenarios are Russia's influence on Armenia, democratization in Turkey, the possibility of a war against Azerbaijan, Middle East's influence on Armenia and the changing dynamics in EU...
The directions for the future of Armenian world in 21th century fall under 8 items. Here are some important directions: a development plan for Armenia; an international dialog process for Armenia-Turkey relations and Karabakh question; getting rid of the state of “survival” and creating a creativity, innovation and development oriented “great ideal” which Armenians can gather around...
