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American journalist and novelist, associate editor for The Washington Post, David Ignatius who is of Armenian descent, is guided by the principle that truth is a powerful weapon. 

Ignatius informed that his grandparents were from Kharberd province of Historical Armenia during the Second Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide held at Karen Demirchyan Complex.

“My grandfather was among those 300 people emigrated from Kharberd. He remembers that the refugees were tortured and could barely move,” Ignatius said.

He also noted that he is proud concerning the launch of the forum adding that the most important thing for his journalist career is conveying the truth.

“My journalistic mission is to find out the truth. We must be accountable and responsible for the past events. We take the facts very seriously. My mentor always told me that everything would be vain without facts,” David Ignatius said.

According to him, it was inspiring that a year ago in Turkey many intellectuals and politicians commemorated the victims of the Genocide. Ignatius reminded that writer Peter Balakian, Armenian by nationality, received the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his “Ozone Journal”, where the poet represents ‘the speaker's memory of excavating the bones of Armenian genocide victims in the Syrian desert’.

Ignatius also said that as a journalist he wants to look at the past and the future to understand the recognition and compensation, to be able to improve the present with facts.

“There should never be genocides,” concluded David Ignatius.

To remind, the Aurora Prize hosts the Aurora Dialogues – a series of insightful discussions between leading humanitarians, academics, philanthropists and media experts on some of today’s most pressing global challenges held within the scopes and under the patronage of the Second Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide
The Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity will be granted annually to an individual whose actions have had an exceptional impact on preserving human life and advancing humanitarian causes.

The Aurora Prize Laureate will be honored with a US $100,000 grant. In addition, that individual will have the unique opportunity to continue the cycle of giving by nominating organizations that inspired their work to receive a US $1,000,000 award.

The Aurora Prize will be awarded annually on April 24 in Yerevan, Armenia.