International forum 'Cooperation for Peace and Harmony' opens in Yakutia

On 15 October, the first International Forum 'Cooperation for the Sake of Peace and Harmony of Peoples' started in Yakutsk, the capital of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), Russia. Participants include representatives of Armenia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Moscow and other Russian regions, including Khabarovsk Krai and Samara Oblast.

The initiative belongs to the Assembly of Peoples of Yakutia, and the project was implemented with grant support from the Yakutsk city administration. Organisers aim to link Yakutsk and Gyumri. Most of the Armenian diaspora in the region come from Shirak Province, whose administrative centre is Gyumri. Ruzanna Begdzhanyan, deputy chair of the Union of Armenians of Yakutia, said a sister-city agreement was proposed in the summer and is under coordination, with signing possible in December 2026 or January 2027.

Participants will discuss preserving native languages, promoting spiritual culture and traditional values, strengthening economic ties, joint interregional and intergovernmental projects, business partnerships between ethnic communities, and mechanisms for interethnic harmony. The Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs included three Yakutia initiatives in the regional plan for the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia. The forum is organised by the Assembly of Peoples of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), with support from the Ministry of External Relations and Nationalities Affairs.