Dear colleagues,

I would like to warmly welcome Stefan Fule, the EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy and his delegation who arrived in Yerevan.

The rapprochement with the European family is one of the key vectors of Armenia’s foreign policy and I would like to mention with satisfaction that the cooperation between Armenia and the EU is expanding and strengthening year by year.

The well-established political dialogue, regular high-level reciprocal visits and joint efforts, including the reforms, directed to the development of trade-economic ties between Armenia and the EU promote the deepening of comprehensive interaction. The launch of the Eastern Partnership initiative gives an additional impulse to our relations.

Today we touched upon the negotiations over the Association Agreement. And I should mention with satisfaction that the 16 Chapters of the negotiations have already been closed. Together with Commissioner Stefan Fule we stressed the importance of the mobility of people from Armenia and the EU, and noted that necessary steps have been undertaken towards the launching of the visa facilitation negotiations. Armenia looks forward to further steps from the EU.

We are also undertaking relevant efforts to prepare the launching of negotiations over the establishment of Deep and comprehensive free trade area.

With Commissioner Stefan Fule we discussed the regional problems and Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Here we agree with the European Union that the issue should be settled in the frames of the OSCE Minks Group based on the principles of non-use of force or threat of force, self-determination and territorial integrity, and that the peaceful settlement has no alternative.

Summarizing I would like to note once again that our cooperation is in a successful progress and I am sure that this visit will give a new impulse to our relations.

Please, Mr. Fule.

(In addition to Stefan Fule ‘s speech) Before passing to the questions, I would like to add that yesterday evening one more solider, Vazgen Bakhshyan, was killed by the Azerbaijani sniper in the line of contact of Nagorno-Karabakh. I would like to express condolences to his family, relatives and friends. Of course, such provocations in the line of contact do not contribute to the negotiating process in any way. In Sochi an important decision was made on creating relevant mechanism for conducting investigations of such kind of incidents and provocations in the line of contact and we hope that this mechanism will become also an important tool to prevent such kind of incidents, which will be beneficial for continuing the negotiation process. The latest negotiations inspire some hope for the progress of peaceful settlement.

Question: Minister Nalbandian, recently there was an information that the Azerbaijani authorities forbade Matthew Bryza, the United States Ambassador to that country to visit Jugha – the Armenian cemetery. How will you comment that step undertaken by the Azerbaijani side?

Answer: If they do not allow, they have something to hide. For the same reasons during the last six years, the Azerbaijanis have not allowed the representatives of the international organizations to visit Nakhichevan. We, as well as the whole international community, witnessed in 2005 how the Azerbaijanis were trying to destroy the Armenian cultural heritage in Nakhichevan, and not only the Armenian cultural heritage, but also attempting to eliminate any trace of Armenian presence in Nakhichevan. And then what do they say? Are they going to say that since Noah’s time Nakhichevan has been their native land, but who will believe? Not even anyone from the great “experts of dolma” believe in such claims.

Question: Minister Nalbandian, recently Turkey's Foreign Affairs Minister gave an interview to one of the Armenian media where he touched upon the Armenian-Turkish relations and stated that Turkey is committed to normalize relations. Can you regard it as a positive sign made by Turkey to Yerevan?

Answer: Unfortunately, I do not think that it contained any positive sign. Apart from bla-blas in that interview, again directly or indirectly preconditions are sounded for the ratification. So Turkey not only continues not to respect its commitments, but also opposes the international community's position, which is in line with the Armenian approach to ratify and implement protocols without any preconditions. Where can they go or what can they achieve by such an approach? Nowhere and nothing!