Ashot Aramaisovich Airapetyan, who lives in Moscow, is director of the Centre for Interethnic Cooperation. In 1975 he graduated from the Physics Faculty of Erevan State University, and he went on to graduate studies at the Kurchatov Atomic Energy Institute in Moscow, completing a PhD (‘kandidatskaya’) in physical and mathematical sciences (1987). In 1997 Ashot Airapetyan founded the Centre for Interethnic Cooperation to promote minority rights and support minority organizations in Russia. In the course of its work, the Centre for Interethnic Cooperation has conducted more than 80 conferences, seminars and workshops in many Russian regions. Representatives of the Centre have taken part in numerous conferences organized by the UN, Council of Europe, OSCE and others.