Hello,

I am pleased to welcome the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus, who comes from a country with whom we are tied to age-old friendship and brotherly relations, which passed the test of time, from a country, the parliament of which was one of the first ones to recognize and condemn the Armenian Genocide in 1982, demanding a restoration of historical justice.

Since the establishment of the diplomatic relations cooperation between Armenia and Cyprus has been uplifted, which was marked by the reciprocal state visits of the leaders of the two countries, as well.

Today, we had a thorough talk with Madam Kozakou-Marcoullis on the ways of further expanding of bilateral relations and the issues of regional and international agenda.
Talking about our relations, we outlined the significant heritage and contribution of the Armenian community in Cyprus to the strengthening of the inter-state cooperation.

Our friend Cyprus will assume the EU presidency on July 1 and in that context we thoroughly touched upon the Armenia-EU cooperation and the projects being implemented in that format.

Of course, we could not avoid from the Cypriot issue. Armenia has never accepted and will not accept the attempts to divide brotherly Cyprus. The Cypriot issue should find its fair and legal solution and in this respect we stand by Cyprus.

We touched upon the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, as well. I presented my Cypriot counterpart the current negotiations, and the steps being undertaken by the international community and mediators towards that direction.

We exchanged views on a number of regional and international issues, as well.

Once again I would like to welcome the visit of Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis to Armenia on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the establishment of our diplomatic relations and to give the floor to my Cypriot counterpart.

Please.

Question: Minister Nalbandian, after the decision of the Constitutional Council of France on the bill criminalizing the denial of genocides, Turkey and Azerbaijan voiced that it was a victory of freedom of speech. How would you comment it?

Minister Nalbandian: Both Turkey and Azerbaijan are in the last places in the press freedom index -162 and 148, and it is one of the main criteria for the freedom of speech. I do not think that these countries may have the right to give lessons, or tell other countries what freedom of speech means.

Question: Minister Nalbandian, recently there was an information that by the mediation of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkey Davutoğlu and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a meeting between the Armenian President Sargsyan and Azeri President Aliyev would be initiated. To what extent is this format acceptable for the Armenian side?

Minister Nalbandian: Regarding to the United States, as a Minsk Group co-chairing country, the United States undertakes importantly constructive mediating efforts towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. As of the existing or potential Turkish mediation, I can only say that it is nonsense.

Question: I would like to address my question to the two Ministers. Two brief questions. Did you discuss the possibility to act together in international arenas and if yes, over what questions?

Minister Nalbandian: We have very good cooperation in international arenas and of course, we took this opportunity to reaffirm once again the willingness to renew more closely cooperation between the two countries in the near future in the frames of the UN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, as well as other international organizations.