On a working visit to France, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan participated in the Paris Peace Forum, featuring a number of heads of state and government.
Opening remarks were delivered by French President Emmanuel Macron, China’s Vice President Wang Qishan, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo Félix Tshisekedi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Nikol Pashinyan then presented Hayk Demoyan’s “Le Sport” book as a symbolic gift to the library of the forum. The book tells about the Armenian sports and sports clubs in the Ottoman Empire.
Referring to the book, Nikol Pashinyan noted that through wonderful historical photos it tells about the sports clubs and athletic achievements of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire before the genocide of 1915.
In the book one can see photos of Armenian athletes – men and women doing exercises, ads encouraging women to do exercise and go in for sports. And this was happening 100 years ago in the Ottoman Empire, a society that more than conservative when it came to women’s social and physical activities.
Despite all this, Armenians established sports clubs that promoted peace and coexistence between Christians and the predominant Muslim communities.
Afterwards, the Prime Minister visited the IDEA Foundation’s pavilion opened during the conference, where he was introduced to exhibits on the Foundation’s activities, including materials related to the Aurora Humanitarian Award Ceremony. Also present at the pavilion was Aurora Prize winner, Dr. Tom Katina.
