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The Armenian, Azeri and Jewish communities of Lipetsk, Russia, have decided to come together and form a single NGO, reports gorod48.ru.
According to Vladimir Malkhasyan, the head of the Lipetsk branch of the Union of Armenians of Russia, inter-ethnic communication and the idea of establishing a non-governmental organization was born about three years ago.
“We are all well aware of the current turbulent times, when more and more disagreements arise on national grounds; thus, the need to learn more about each other, to become familiar with national traditions and culture arises,” he said.
“Some time ago, we, Armenian, Azeris and Jews, began to communicate more closely,” he added.
According to Malkhasyan, they would gather with their families, organize cultural festivals and hold football tournaments.
“Then [came] the idea of creating a non-governmental organization, which could be composed of different ethnic minority communities. Let me say that Lipetsk city authorities have always supported our ideas, and this time the House of Nationalities has decided to support this initiative,” he said. The group is currently preparing documents for registering the NGO in Russia.
Soon members of the three diasporan communities plan to organize their first joint event — planting saplings in the areas burned by the forest fire last summer.