YEREVAN, DECEMBER 30, ARMENPRESS. The Union of Writers of Armenia has commented on its Ukrainian counterpart’s decision on blacklisting Armenian authors.

The President of the Union of Writers of Armenia Edward Militonyan underscored that politics and culture should be differentiated. 

Asked to comment, Militonyan told ARMENPRESS that the literary ties between different countries are the spiritual and artistic wealth of any given nation.

“Ukrainian diplomat, translator and researcher on Armenian studies Oleksandr Bozhko regularly published the books of Armenian writers. He most recently translated into Ukrainian the late novelist Vardan Grigoryan’s book. He is always publishing the works of Armenian writers in the Ukrainian press. Meanwhile, on December 25 we presented several poems written by the president of the Ukrainian Union of Writers in the online edition of the Grakan Newspaper,” Militonyan said.

He added that politics should proceed on its own path and it shouldn’t be mixed with the spiritual and cultural arena.

“The translation of the best pieces of work from different countries is first of all enriching the country which is translating them and spreading good literature and the high cultural values. We, figures of culture, are inclined to bringing different nations closer to one another, and convey their spiritual values. This is our main objective. The foundation for the progress of mankind and peaceful co-existence in the world is in spreading the good and the beautiful,” Militonyan added, noting that politics could sometimes disturb the spread of these main values.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan