Final communiqué of the Working meeting of civil activists and historians of the South Caucasian countries (Tsakhkadzor, Armenia, 11 – 14 November, 2007)

We, participants of the Working meeting, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian civil activists and historians, emphasize that it is important and beneficial for the peoples of the South Caucasus:

• To organize meetings of civil activists and historians of the South Caucasian countries on regular basis.
• To have immediate contacts between professionals, as it would facilitate better mutual understanding, exchange news and important information about global and regional developments, and the developments in the South Caucasian countries.
• To organize more meetings of the similar format that helps to create an atmosphere of tolerance, respect, and mutual understanding between civil activists and historians of the South Caucasus.
• To develop cooperation in the areas where our countries have close or matching interests; the positive examples from the history of our peoples’ cooperation and coexistence should be the starting point.

After having the debates and discussions we, participants of the working meeting, state that:
• There is a need to create an online information network for the cooperation of Armenian, Azerbaijani, and Georgian civil activists and historians;
• We are interested in publishing joint articles and essays in scientific journals and non-affiliated magazines, as proposed by some of the participants of the working meeting;
• The Tbilisi initiative of the Council of Europe, providing for a joint project on Caucasus History, is a positive example of cooperation of historians from the South Caucasian countries;
• This format is one of the directions for continued efforts of our countries’ citizens aimed to the development of civil society, finding historical factors that keep us together, democratization, and European integration of the South Caucasian countries;
• We are interested in a more in-depth study of the European experience in dealing with historical problems, on the examples of the French-German and Czech-German reconciliation, which will facilitate the process of universal reconciliation and creation of an atmosphere of peace and neighbourly relationships in the South Caucasus;
• One of the results of our working meeting has been the creation of an initiative group for establishment of a South Caucasian Association of History Teachers and Lecturers.

The participants of the working meeting express their deep gratitude to those who initiated and organized our conference, with a special acknowledgement for Caritas France, whose support made our contacts and meetings possible.

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