Diplomats Representing Ancient Civilizations Meet in Athens

[Shotgunner51]

Diplomats Representing Ancient Civilizations Meet in Athens
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Monday, April 24, 2017, 10:44 AM

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, right, and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gesture as they pose for the photographers as they attend the "Ancient Civilizations Forum" (ACForum) at Zappeio Conference Hall in Athens, Monday, April 24, 2017. Foreign Ministers and top officials from various countries attended the forum being held in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Diplomats representing ancient civilizations have met in the Greek capital for the first time as part of a new 10-member international club.

The Ancient Civilizations Forum held its inaugural session in Athens on Monday, attended by foreign ministers or senior diplomats from China, India, Italy, Iran, Iraq, Egypt, Greece, Mexico, Bolivia and Peru.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, right, welcomes his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, at Zappeio Conference Hall in Athens, Monday, April 24, 2017. Foreign Ministers and top officials from various countries attend the "Ancient Civilizations Forum" (ACForum), which is being held in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told attendees that their cultures share a heritage of "positive power, the strength of knowledge, education (and) progress." He voiced hopes that the 10 countries could benefit from cooperation in areas ranging from the economy to culture.

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, left, and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi chat each other at Zappeio Conference Hall in Athens, Monday, April 24, 2017. Foreign Ministers and top officials from various countries attend the "Ancient Civilizations Forum" (ACForum), which is being held in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis) (The Associated Press)

The new club is defined by history, rather than geography or clout, with each of its members having been a top global player at some — often distant — point in the past 4,000 years.



Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.nydailynews.com/newswire...t-civilizations-meet-athens-article-1.3094711

 

[Mamluk]

What's India doing there? Pakistan represents IVC, not India! The word India itself comes from the name of a Pakistani province (Sindh).

@Kaptaan @save_ghenda

 

[Shotgunner51]

Photo taken on April 24, 2017 shows a scene of the Ancient Civilizations Forum in Athens,Greece.
(Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-04/25/c_136232938.htm

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

What's India doing there? Pakistan represents IVC, not India! The word India itself comes from the name of a Pakistani province (Sindh).

@Kaptaan @save_ghenda

Umm... Pakistan is an artificially created state conceived of in the 1930s. During the partition, it was a known fact that India will be the inheritor state of British India.

Apart from that, India claims the history of the whole region. Pakistanis like to act as if they are Arabs.

 

[Mamluk]

Umm... Pakistan is an artificially created state conceived of in the 1930s.

So is India.

During the partition, it was a known fact that India will be the inheritor state of British India.

No, we inherit the Indus region, you get Ganges and Deccan. Anyways British India itself was an artificial entity with arbitrary boundaries, like Dutch India (Hindia Belanda / Indonesia).

Apart from that, India claims the history of the whole region.

You can't. Dravidians had no contribution to civilized people's history.

Pakistanis like to act as if they are Arabs.

However we act, we are the bloodline of those that created IVC. We (Aryans who settled here) gave you Hindusim (the civilized elements) too, don't forget that.

 

[Shotgunner51]

‘Ancient civilizations’ team up to protect heritage from terrorism
10 nations launch effort at Athens meeting in wake of Islamic State’s destruction of ancient sites
By AFP April 24, 2017, 8:44 pm

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, right, and his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, left, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi gesture as they pose for the photographers as they attend the "Ancient Civilizations Forum" (ACForum) at Zappeio Conference Hall in Athens, April 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

ATHENS, Greece — Ten countries formed a new group Monday aimed at protecting ancient heritage from extremism of the kind that saw the Islamic State group lay waste to Syria’s historic Palmyra.

Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Greece, Italy, China, India, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru — all home to some of the world’s most cherished archaeological sites — have signed up to the “Ancient Civilizations Forum” launched in Athens by ministers and ambassadors from the nations.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras told attendees that their cultures share a heritage of “positive power, the strength of knowledge, education (and) progress.” He voiced hopes that the 10 countries could benefit from cooperation in areas ranging from the economy to culture.

The new club is defined by history, rather than geography or clout, with each of its members having been a top global player at some — often distant — point in the past 4,000 years.

Greek Prime minister Alexis Tsipras (C), flanked by Greek Minister of Foreign affairs Nikos Kotzias (R), gestures as he delivers a speach during the “Ancient Civilizations Forum” at the Zappeion Conference Hall, in Athens, on April 24, 2017. (AFP Photo/Louisa Gouliamaki)

Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias, whose government is spearheading the project along with China, said the group would run joint projects to promote “dialogue in the face of fanaticism, and culture in the face of terrorism.”

“We’re only just getting started,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Jihadists from the Islamic State terror group seized the ancient ruins of Palmyra in May 2015, systematically destroying and looting the temples of the UNESCO World Heritage site.

The group also ravaged the Assyrian city of Nimrud in Iraq using bulldozers and explosives, and ransacked pre-Islamic treasures in Mosul’s museum.

Bamiyan, in Afghanistan, and Mali’s Timbuktu are other UNESCO sites to suffer destruction at the hands of Islamist extremists.

This screen capture from video posted online by Islamic State in April 2015
shows a man taking a sledgehammer to a stone carving at the ancient site of Nimrud near Mosul, Iraq.
(Militant video via AP)​

The new 10-country group is due to meet again in Bolivia next year, the Greek foreign ministry said.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said the project stood in contrast to the idea “put forward by several intellectuals of a clash of civilizations.”

“We support dialogue between civilizations against the intolerance of which Daesh is a symbol,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for IS.​

In March, seven countries including France and Saudi Arabia joined forces with US philanthropist Tom Kaplan to pledge $75.5 million (70 million euros) to a UNESCO-backed fund aimed at protecting the world’s cultural heritage against war and terrorism.

Their International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Zones, based in Geneva, aims to raise $100 million by 2019.


AP contributed to this report.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/ancient-civilizations-team-up-to-protect-heritage-from-terrorism/

 

[Srinivas]

good development!

 

[Srinivas]

What's India doing there? Pakistan represents IVC, not India! The word India itself comes from the name of a Pakistani province (Sindh).

@Kaptaan @save_ghenda

They are trying to protect ancient civilizations from ISIS.

 

[Mamluk]

They are trying to protect ancient civilizations from ISIS.

Then stop sponsoring ISIS in Afghanistan.

 

[xairhossi]

What's India doing there? Pakistan represents IVC, not India! The word India itself comes from the name of a Pakistani province (Sindh).

@Kaptaan @save_ghenda

Well, unless the Pakistani government takes some serious steps to recognize and promote it, this sh!ts gonna continue

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

So is India.

Umm.. No.

Even before the British came, their company was called the East "India" Company.

No, we inherit the Indus region, you get Ganges and Deccan. Anyways British India itself was an artificial entity with arbitrary boundaries, like Dutch India (Hindia Belanda / Indonesia).

Umm.. despite some new elements, the idea of India has been present since ages.

You can't. Dravidians had no contribution to civilized people's history.

LOL. The so called dravidians have magnificent civilization in their own rights.

However we act, we are the bloodline of those that created IVC. We (Aryans who settled here) gave you Hindusim (the civilized elements) too, don't forget that.

What do you mean however we act?

And aryans pretty much occupy the whole of north India.

Rather, you have been denying even aryan heritage.

 

[Hakikat ve Hikmet]

IMO, Muslims can't be a part of the "ancient" civilizations as for the Ehl-i Iman, only the "next" civilization matters!!!!

 

[Thəorətic Muslim]

Even before the British came, their company was called the East "India" Company.

India comes from Persian Indus. The word spread to Europe who wanted to name the land where trade came from along the silk road, and Ottoman Empire.

All the East India companies were name for their mission to find an ocean route to India, or close to it. Hence why you have the West Indies, why native Americans are called 'Indians'.

 

[Bussard Ramjet]

India comes from Persian Indus. The word spread to Europe who wanted to name the land where trade came from along the silk road, and Ottoman Empire.

All the East India companies were name for their mission to find an ocean route to India, or close to it. Hence why you have the West Indies, why native Americans are called 'Indians'.

Yeah. That is why we call ourselves Bharat, or Hindustan, in our language.

Foreign names are sometimes sticky.

Look at China. It is name adopted by the British and others, from India and South East Asia. They call themselves Zhongguo.

Look at Japan. That is actually a name given to them by Chinese. Japanese call themselves Nippon.

 

[Götterdämmerung]

Yeah. That is why we call ourselves Bharat, or Hindustan, in our language.

Foreign names are sometimes sticky.

Look at China. It is name adopted by the British and others, from India and South East Asia. They call themselves Zhongguo.

Look at Japan. That is actually a name given to them by Chinese. Japanese call themselves Nippon.

What an ignorant remark!