Socialism and the Struggle for Justice in Armenia
An Interview with Socialist International Vice President Maria Titizian
''We must embark upon a powerful campaign for social inclusion to counter the crippling effects of large-scale social exclusion due to the radical, socially polarizing neo-liberal economic policies in the country''
In September 1996, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation rejoined the Socialist International, which it had originally joined in 1907. In 2003, the ARF became a full member of the Socialist International, thus becoming the only party in the CIS with such a status.
During the XXIII Congress of the Socialist International in June 2008 in Athens, ARF-D representative Maria Titizian was elected vice-president of the organization.
The SI Council in Mexico, in November 2008, elected ARF Bureau member Mario Nalpatian as co-chair of the SI Committee for the CIS, the Caucasus and the Black Sea.
The ARF-Dashnaktsutyun Women's Group is a member of the SIW (Socialist International Women).
The youth organization of the ARF, the Armenian Youth Federation, is a full member of the IUSY (International Union of Socialist Youth) and an observer member of the ECOSY (European Community Organization of Socialist Youth).
Vahakn Karakashian, the editor of our sister publication Horizon Weekly, published in Montreal, sat down with Titizian to discuss the SI, its goals and projects, and the prospects of socialism in Armenia.
VAHAKN KARAKASHIAN: What is the purpose of the Socialist International?
MARIA TITIZIAN: The Socialist International brings together social democratic, socialist and labor parties from around the globe to promote, strengthen and expand social democracy in the world. Today, 170 political parties and organizations from all continents are part of the SI and over 60 member parties of the International, in over 55 different countries are in government.
The SI also serves as a forum to discuss pressing global issues from a social democratic perspective through a variety of thematic and regional committees including Economic Policy, Labor and National Resources, Social Cohesion, Poverty and HIV/AIDS and the Commissions for a Sustainable World Society and Global Financial Issues.
From eradicating poverty to the resolution of regional conflicts, the SI utilizes all its resources to help in the establishment of a sustainable, peaceful and socially just world community. The regional committees define and inform the work of the Socialist International with regard to their respective regions, and generate input from their national and regional perspectives to the common global policies of the organization. The regional committees of the Socialist International include Africa, Asia and the Pacific, the CIS, the Caucasus and the Black Sea, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Middle East and South Eastern
In September 1996, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation rejoined the Socialist International, which it had originally joined in 1907. In 2003, the ARF became a full member of the Socialist International, thus becoming the only party in the CIS with such a status.
