Marguerite Barankitse, 2016 Aurora Prize Laureate, visited Artsakh on May 22. As Artsakhpress told Panorama.am, accompanied by the Minister of Culture and Youth Affairs of the Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic Narine Aghabalyan and spiritual leader of Holy Savior Cathedral of Shushi (Ghazanchetsots) priest Andreas Tavadyan, Marguerite Barankitse visited church and prayed.
Afterwards, the children of preparatory group of the Shushi School named after Khachatur Abovyan welcomed the guests and gave her symbolic gifts. The guests visited Shushi’s State Museum of Geology, as well as the Museum of Carpets and got acquainted with the exhibits. They also visited the Iranian Mosque of Shushi.
Then Barankitse met with the children of “Narekatsi” Art Union and performed Armenian dances with them. The children gave her “The Book of Lamentations” by Grigor Narekatsi, her portrait and cross bracelet.
“Children are our greatest treasure, the creators of our future. We are very grateful for your warm welcome. I am well aware of the history of the Armenian people: your opponents tried to destroy, break your will multiple times, but no one has succeeded. You still continue to live and protect your land,” she said.
Arman Jilavyan, CEO of Aurora Humanitarian Initiative, was also among the delegation members. In his speech, Mr. Jilavyan expressed gratitude for the warm welcome.