Acting Rector of the Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU), Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor Lilit Mkrtchyan participated in the official opening ceremony of the “Armeno-Georgica: History and Culture from Antiquity to Modern Period” International Congress.

Devoted to the comprehensive study of the historical and cultural interactions between Armenians and Georgians, the three-day scientific conference is organized by “Geghard” Scientific-Analytical Foundation and Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

Chairman of the Higher Education and Science Committee at the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia Sargis Hayotsyan delivered an opening speech at the event. Greeting the guests and participants of the Congress, he noted that the Higher Education and Science Committee and the Shota Rustaveli National Scientific Foundation of Georgia laid the foundation for the Armenian-Georgian interstate scientific cooperation back in 2022 and that, since then, more than a dozen joint programs have been supported and implemented through co-funding of the Higher Education and Science Committee and the Shota Rustaveli Foundation. “The “Armeno-Georgica: History and Culture from Antiquity to Modern Period” International Congress is one of the expressions of that cooperation,” Sargis Hayotsyan noted in his remarks.

Director of “Geghard” Scientific-Analytical Foundation, Associate Professor Robert Ghazaryan greeted the participants of the Congress on behalf of the Foundation and noted that Yerevan is hosting this kind of a joint Armenian-Georgian event for the first time ever.

“Although both Georgia and Armenia have done a tremendous job in the areas of Armenian Studies and Georgian Studies, in today’s world, anti-scientific manifestations have significantly increased in these areas; thus, discussing and identifying these issues will be helpful for objective assessment of historical events and even further deepening of the scientific cooperation,” Robert Ghazaryan emphasized.

Gor Margaryan, analyst at “Geghard” Foundation, noted that this scientific conference, which is devoted to discussions on historiographical issues, aims to make a contribution to Armenian Studies, Georgian Studies, Caucasian Studies and related sciences.

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Armenia to Georgia Ashot Smbatyan; Head of Georgia Division of the Department of Bordering Countries at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Republic of Armenia Sasun Hovhannisyan; Head of the Department for Integration of Repatriates at the Office of the High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs of the Republic of Armenia Hovhannes Aleksanyan; Director of the Ivane Javakhishvili Institute of History and Ethnology, Professor Giorgy Tcheishvili delivered their welcoming remarks, while the messages of Vice-President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia Pavel Avetisyan and Rector of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, academician Jaba Samushia were read at the event.

The Congress gathered more than 90 scholars from Armenia, Georgia, Poland, Russia, Japan, Great Britain, Ukraine, France, Germany, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria.