His Holiness Catholicos Aram I presided over consultation sessions, an initiative of the Khatchig Babiguian Publication Fund committee, dedicated to the centennial of the Treaty of Lausanne, on April 22 to 24, at the Cilicia Museum in Antelias.
The consultations aim to shed light on the legal avenues that do not render the historical rights of the Armenians an issue in relation to the treaties of Sevres and Lausanne, and on Turkey’s obligations regarding the protection of the rights of national minorities.
During the three-day sessions, reports were presented in historical, legal, and political contexts, which laid the groundwork for a forthcoming conference on the topic.
The following experts participated in the sessions: Prof. Ashod Melkonian— Director of the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences in Armenia, Prof. Rupen Safrasdian—Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Dr. Armen Maroukian— Head of the Department of the Armenian Issue and the Armenian Genocide of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Nora Bayrakdarian—Head of the International relations Department at Lebanese University and head of the legal committee of the lawsuit filed by the Catholicosate of Cilicia for the return of its historical seat in Sis (now Kozan), Khatchig Babiguian Publication Fund committee members: historian Yervant Pamboukian, Guiro Manoyan, Shahan Kandaharian, as well as coordinator of the publications funds of the Catholicosate Aharon Shekherdemian. Present were also representatives from the Armenian traditional political parties.
