On May 3-4, Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia Ashot Hovakimian participated in a high-level international conference titled "Countering Terrorism and Radicalism" organized by the government of Tajikistan, the UN, OSCE and the EU, which was attended by numerous ministers of foreign and interior affairs, deputy ministers, heads of international organizations, representatives of anti-terrorist agencies and centers.

The conference was launched with the opening remarks of the President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, UN Under-Secretary-General, Director of the UN Anti-Terrorism Center Vladimir Voronkov and the OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger.

Speaking about the importance of countering terrorism and violent extremism through the joint efforts of the international community, Ashot Hovakimian highlighted among existing challenges the violence and mass atrocities carried out by Daesh and Al-Nusra terrorist organizations against religious and ethnic groups in Syria and Iraq. Deputy minister underlined that Armenia was among the first countries that condemned the massacres committed by the terrorist organizations against the civilian population, including Christians and other religious groups.

Ashot Hovakimian expressed concern over the return of foreign terrorist fighters from the Middle East, which is a serious regional security problem and can aggravate the situation in the conflict zones. Terrorists returning from Middle East import their extremist ideas and violent practices, thus promoting the radicalisation of societies.

In that context and in response to the remarks of the representative of Azerbaijan, Ashot Hovakimian informed of the xenophobia driven Daesh style crimes committed by Azerbaijan against Armenians.

Deputy Minister Hovakimian presented Armenia's national experience in countering terrorism and its contribution to the efforts of the international community within the framework of the UN, OSCE, CSTO as well as in bilateral format. In particular, he referred to the series of high-level international events organized by Armenia and partners within the framework of the United Nations and the OSCE on the protection of ethnic and religious groups in the Middle East, maintenance of inter-religious peace and stability, and prevention and combating crimes driven by xenophobia against Christians and representatives of other religious groups.

During the conference, Deputy Minister Hovakimian had a bilateral meeting with Deputy Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Ismatullah Nasreddin. The sides discussed issues of cooperation within international organizations, in particular, the UN and the OSCE.