ОВАННИСЯН Давид Арташесович
Summary
David Hovhannisyan is a civil society, media, peace, and conflict transformation expert, actively involved in various peace-building projects dealing with conflicts in the South Caucasus, Russia, and the Middle East. His strengths include strategy development, program design, project management, participatory training methods and facilitation, as well as effective negotiation skills (ability of finding formulations mutually acceptable for conflicting parties and offering innovative solutions to the problem).
In the period between 2003 and 2006, Mr. Hovhannisyan initiated and organized a number of confidence building and conflict resolution workshops, trainings, and creative games in Armenia, Georgia, and Russian Federation with participation of civil society actors representing different conflicting parties in the South Caucasus as well as Russia. To name just one, in 2005, Mr. Hovhannisyan organized a large workshop on polyethnicity and multiculturalism in Georgia sponsored by the UN, International Alert, and Caucasian Forum.
Mr. Hovhannisyan has a first-hand experience in conflict management as a professional diplomat. In 1998 he was appointed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia as Ambassador at Large and awarded the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary. One of his most significant roles in the field of peace-building includes his membership to the Armenian-Turkish Reconciliation Commission (TARC), a second-track diplomacy initiative aimed at improving Armenian-Turkish relations. During the active phase of TARC (2000-2003), Mr. Hovhannisyan co-authored the roadmap on the improvement of Armenian-Turkish relations which was presented to the governments of the two countries. Besides, he essentially contributed to TARC’s another accomplishment, i.e. negotiations leading to the liberalization of visa requirements for the Armenian citizens visiting Turkey.
In the capacity as Ambassador at Large, Mr. Hovhannisyan also engaged in negotiations with Georgia over certain disagreements between the two governments as well as actively worked with the official representatives of Arab countries, Iran, and Russia toward stepping up bilateral economic relations.
Along with the mentioned activities, Mr. Hovhannisyan has been engaged in academic work. He is the founder and director of the Center of Civilization and Cultural Studies at Yerevan State University. During the past 15 years, he participated in more than 100 conferences and seminars devoted to conflict resolution, Armenian-Turkish relations, international relations, regional cooperation and security, as well as Arabic and Islamic Studies. He has published several monographs and numerous articles on the mentioned topics as well. Mr. Hovhannisyan also worked as a columnist for a number of Armenian periodicals and authored more than 100 articles.
1976-1979 Education (beginning with IHE)
1976-1980 Institute of Asian and African Countries, MoscowState University
PhD Student Oriental Studies. Major: Arabic Philology
1971-1976 The Chair of Arabic Studies, Yerevan State University (hereinafter YSU)
Academic degree
1979,Institute of Asian and African Countries,
Moscow State University,
PhD, Oriental Studies. Major: Arabic Philology
Professional experience
2008-Present, Advisor to the President of Yerevan State Linguistic University after V.Bryusov
2007-Present,Director, Center for Civilization and Cultural Studies, YSU
1998-Present, Department of Arabic Studies, YSU
2001-Present, Caucasus Institute, Yerevan, Armenia
Professor,special course: Introduction on Islamic Studies.
1999-2005, Yerevan Linguistic University, Department of Social Sciences
Professor, specialcourses: International Relations,
Theory of Diaspora.
1998 - 2003, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia
Ambassador at Large, awarded the diplomatic range of Ambassador
Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary
1992 - 1998, Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to Damascus, Syria
Ambassador
1990 - 1992, Presidential Staff of the Republic of Armenia
Chief Expert on Middle Eastern Affairs
1989- 1991, Armenfax Information Agency, Yerevan, Armenia
Chief Editor
1987 - 1992, Departement of Arabic Studies, YSU
Head of the Chair of the Arabic Studies
1985 - 1987, Departement of Arabic Studies, YSU
Associated Professor,
1980 - 1985, Departement of Arabic Studies, YSU
Academic courses
The History of Islam,
Qur’an and Qur’anic Studies
Sunni Mazhabs,
Sufism,
Shiism,
Oriental Poetics,
The History of Arab-Muslim Civilization, History of Arab Literature (pre-Islamic and early Islam periods).
Languages
Armenian, English, Russian, Arabic
Professional membership (NGO, professional council, editorial staff of scientific journal, funds etc
2011-Present, Member of Association for Caucasian Studies
2010-Present, Member of “Language, Society, Communication” Journal Editorial Board
2003-Present, Member of Transcend
2000 - Present, Member of the Armenian - Turkish Reconciliation Commission (TARC)
2000 – Present, Founder and Member of the South Caucasus Institute of Regional Security
2006-Pesent, Founder and Director of Center for Cultural and Civilization Studies, YSU
2006-Pesent Member of “Arabic Studies” Journal Editorial Board
Selected List of Relevant Publication
Արաբա-իսրայելական հակամարտություն. Երուսաղեմի խնդիրը։ Երևան, 2002։ [Arab-Israeli Conflict. The Issue of Jerusalem. Yerevan, 2002.]
«Հայ–թուրքական հարաբերությունների որոշ միտումների մասին», Հանրապետական 2.25-31, 2003:[“On a Number of Tendencies of the Armenian-Turkish Relations,” The Republican.]
«Աշխարհաքաղաքական հակամարտության նոր միտումներ», Հանրապետական 3.16-22, 2003: [“New Tendencies of the Geopolitical Conflicts,” The Republican.]
«Արաբա-իսրայելական հակամարտության նոր փուլը», Հանրապետական 4.22-28, 2003: [“The New Stage of the Arab-Israeli Conflict,” The Republican.]
Регион и безопасность (попытка аксиологического подхода). Ежегодный отчет Южно-Кавказского института региональной безопасности. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung էջ 137-142
Միմեսիսը որպես արժեքային համակարգի ադապտացման միջոց։ «Հայաստանը Եվրոպայի ճանապարհին», Երևան, 2004, էջ 15-40, Մ. Հովհաննիսյան[“Mimesis as a Value Adaptation Mechanism,” Armenia on the Way to Europe.]
The Struggle against Terrorism and the Problem of Regional Cooperation in the South Caucasus. Royal Defence Academy, Defense Intelligence Language Service. London, 2003.
«Կոնֆլիկտների դիցաքաղաքական հիմնավորման խնդրի շուրջ», Հանրապետական 1.5-11, 2005:[“On the Problem of Mythical and Political Substantiation of Conflicts,” The Republican.]
Армяно-турецкие отношения в свете глобальной и региональной политики. Черноморско-Каспийский регион: проблемы и перспективы сотрудничества, М., 2005, 135-161.
“Process of Normalization of Armenian-Turkish Relations: The Official and Societal Dimensions,” in Prospects for Reconciliation: Theory and Practice. Proceedings of the International Workshop, Yerevan, 27 November, 2010, pp 47-53.
Армения Научное общество кавказоведов
