On the initiative of the RA Ministry of Diaspora, in cooperation with the Matenadaran after M. Mashtots and the Fereydan Educational Association of Tehran, the presentation of Stepanos Vicar Hazarjribetsi’s book “Hangitagirq” («Հանգիտագիրք») was held on September 7 at the Matenadaran Conference Hall. The book is dedicated to the history of the second half of the 17th and the 18th centuries Armenian-Iranian community.
The Acting Director of the Matenadaran Vahan Ter-Ghevondian, who underscored the unique source value of the book, mentioned that the publication of the book is the result of the brilliant cooperation between the Matenadaran and the Ministry of Diaspora.
RA Deputy Minister of Diaspora Serge Srapionyan conveyed the welcoming speech of Minister Hranush Hakobyan, in which the existence of the best conditions of Armenians living and creating for centuries in the Islamic Republic of Iran was emphasized. “The Armenian community of Iran has become a strong bridge for Armenia-Iran centuries-old friendship,” the Minister said. The Ministry of Diaspora highly appreciated the initiative of the Fereydan Educational Association in the book publishing and awarded the organization with the Gold Medal of the RA Ministry of Diaspora.
Then, the First Secretary of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia Hossein Shirkhani delivered a welcoming speech. The latter, by conveying the words of IRI Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Seyed Kazem Sadjadi, thanked the Fereydan Education Union and Matenadaran for publishing the book, translating the work into Armenian and organizing the presentation.
Gaspar Amirkhanyan of the Fereydan Educational Association, responsible for the publication of the book, mentioned that the first presentation of the book took place in Tehran on July 19. “The publication of this book is the result of the best cooperation between Armenia and the Diaspora, and, I hope, it will continue,” said G. Amirkhanyan. Gaspar Amirkhanyan awarded Vahan Bayburdian, Tamara Minasyan, Lusine Tumanyan, Hasmik Kirakosyan and the Department of Armenian Communities in Near East and Middle East with certificates of appreciation from Fereydan Educational Association for assisting in book translation and printing activities.
First Armenian ambassador to Iran, author of the book preface Ph.D. Vahan Bayburdian spoke about the contribution of the Iranian-Armenian community to the development of the Armenian culture, underlining the involvement of the RA Minister of Diaspora in that initiative.
The Director of the Institute of History NAS RA Ashot Melkonyan, the Director of the Institute of Literature of NAS RA Vardan Devrikyan and the Head of the Department of Study of Art History and Schools of Miniature Painting Karen Matevosyan, presented the historical, scientific and philological values of the book.
Tamara Minasyan, Senior Researcher at Matenadaran, delivered a report on the work of the Armenian Language translation.
Before the end of the presentation, First Secretary of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Armenia Hossein Shirkhani, on behalf of the Ambassador, presented Matenadaran with a beautiful Iranian carpet.