(Combined Sources)–Approximately 30,000 people gathered in Athens on May 4-7 for the fourth annual European Social Forum (ESF) to discuss the war in Iraq–neoliberalism in Europe–and immigrant rights.
The forum–which brings together all social movemen’s in Europe–featured hundreds of seminars–booths sponsored by various organizations at the event’s main fair–and a meeting on Friday night to hear anti-war activists.
At the end of the forum–over 80,000 people joined a demonstration through the center of Athens–where "hands off Iran" echoed through the streets.
Two representatives from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) youth organization of Armenia and five ARF youth organization members from Greece participated in the Forum.
The delegates ran a booth during the fair–where they handed out informational packets and brochures educating attendees about the organization–the Armenian genocide–and selling Armenian CDs.
With over one thousand Turks also participating in the forum–representatives of the two groups had a chance to discuss some of the most pertinent issues in Armenian-Turkish relations.
The Armenian delegates spoke to their Turkish counterparts about the importance of Genocide recognition.
The Turkish participants agreed that Turkey must recognize the Armenian genocide and acknowledged the wrongdoing of their government.
Although the Armenian and Turkish delegations got a chance to meet and discuss important issues–the ESF did not have any plenary sessions where participants could debate some of the major issues facing the movement.
Organizers of the ESF reported that it was the biggest political gathering in Greece since the student uprisings of the 1970s.