Statement by the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia Arman Kirakossian

17 January, 2013

Dear friends,

Ladies and Gentlemen

It is a great pleasure for me, the Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to Austria, to be present at this wonderful event organized by Pro Oriente, which is dedicated to the 500 Anniversary of the Armenian Book Printing.

We started to celebrate this very important for the Armenian Culture Anniversary last November with an exhibition of old Armenian books at the Mechitarist Institution of Vienna, when the Austrian officials and Ambassadors of many countries were present.

We value our relations and cooperation with Austria. Last year we marked 20 years of diplomatic relations with the first ever visit of the President Fisher to Armenia. The Armenian Culture was one of the priorities of the 3 day visit, when your President visited many cultural sites in Armenia. The visit of the President of Armenia to Austria hopefully this year will bring new impetus to the friendly relations existing between our two countries.

Armenian-Austrian relations are not just 20 years old, they go deep into history for more than 200 years. Many Austrian institutions preserve and continue to study Armenian cultural heritage. One of these institutions is the Manuscript Research Center of the Graz University, which studies written cultural heritage, such as manuscripts and early printed books. We are very proud and value your very important cooperation with the Institute of Ancient Manuscripts in Yerevan – Matenadaran, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Armenian Academy of Sciences and, of course, the Mechitarist Institution of Vienna. I would like to mention very important project of the Center – the “Digitalization of the Armenian Manuscripts of Mesrob Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts”.

And today we gathered here for another interesting project of the Centre that was realized by very good friend of Armenia and the Embassy, professor and doctor Erich Renhart with the cooperation of the Government of Styria, the Armenian Community of Graz and especially Gayane Mirzoyan. I would like to specially thank you for this excellent book you prepared and published – “The Image of Armenia in selected manuscripts and printed works of the Graz University Library” – which is a testimony of friendly relations and cultural cooperation between Austrian and Armenian peoples.

Thank you

MFA RA
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