Trustee Martin Essayan and Razmik Panossian travelled to London and Paris in January to present the Programming Plan 2014-2018 to local Armenian communities.

The presentations took place in the London and Paris branches of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and we are thankful to our colleagues for their support, in particular Andrew Barnett, Miguel Magalhães, Clémence Bossard, and Sophie Thompson.

Each presentation was followed by a valuable Q&A discussion of themes within the plan. Audiences were very welcoming to the new focus on the preservation and advancement of Western Armenian and to the modernisation of language teaching methods.

Questions were posed concerning the new scholarship categories. These seek to award larger sums to a smaller number of outstanding candidates. Similarly, it was explained that fewer projects will be supported but in larger amounts to enhance impact.

There were enquiries about the Department’s programming area on improving Armenian-Turkish relations. This aim will present challenges but promises opportunities for constructive dialogue.

In March, Razmik Panossian also visited the USA, Canada and Lebanon to present the Plan. In Lebanon he met His Holiness Catholicos Aram I of the Holy See of Cilicia who released this statement regarding the new direction of the department.

The Armenian Communities Department is now working to implement the Plan.