Yerevan hosts International Conference on Talysh Studies

Today, the capital of Armenia has launched the Second International Conference on Talysh Studies; the event will last for two days.

As reported by Garnik Asatryan, the head of the Division of Iranian Studies of the Department of Oriental Studies of the Yerevan State University, the event has presented a collective book "Introduction to History and Culture of the Talysh Nation". The collection includes 10 chapters and several meaningful appendices, which describe in detail the origin and history of Talyshes.

Ara Papyan, President of the Modus Vivendi Centre said that in Armenia the Talysh studies are given special importance. "This nation is exposed, especially in Azerbaijan, to persecutions and discrimination. And if we talk about and advocate for the rights of the Armenian people, then, naturally, our moral duty is to promote other peoples in preservation of their national identity and develop of their culture," the Panorama.am quotes him as saying.

"The Second International Conference on Talysh Studies will give a new and a very strong impetus to our struggle for restoration of the Talysh statehood and solution of the problems of indigenous nations of Southern Caucasus," Fakhreddin Aboszoda, the leader of the Movement for Revival of the Talysh nation, said in his appeal published on the "Times.am".

Apart from Armenian scientists, the conference is attended by specialists from Russia, Iran, Georgia, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, the USA and Canada.

According to organizers, the conference will be a landmark event in Oriental studies and in the modern history of Talyshes.