Edward Nalbandian had a speech at the Italian Institute of International Relations

On Friday, September 20th, Edward Nalbandian, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, met with Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See. At the meeting minister Nalbandian mentioned that strong relations were established between Armenia and The Holy See, effective cooperation is established, based on well-known traditions and common Christian values.

The Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See welcomed and highlighted the opening of the Armenian embassy in Vatican. He also informed that the Holy See was considering the issue of establishing a diplomatic mission in Yerevan.

Edward Nalbandian and Dominique Mamberti expressed confidence that the opening of the Armenian embassy in Vatican would give a new impetus to the further enlargement and strengthening of bilateral relations. Edward Nalbandian and Mgr. Dominique Mamberti had a detailed talk on the ways of development of bilateral relations.

On the same day the Armenian foreign minister delivered a speech on the Armenian foreign policy at the Italian Institute of International Relations, where representatives of the Italian Foreign Ministry, ambassadors accredited to Rome, political scientists and analysts were participating.

In his speech Nalbandian presented the Armenian-Italian relations, efforts being made by the Armenian side and the international community toward the peaceful settlement of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the Armenia- EU cooperation, and the position of Armenia on a number of international and regional issues. After the speech the Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs answered several questions of the guests.

Giving a response to the question of a representative from the Azerbaijani embassy, Nalbandian spoke about the anti-Armenian propaganda, the territorial claims, bellicose statements and threats of war, propagated by the Azerbaijani government. He particularly said, “Today, even a year after murderer Safarov’s glorification and its condemnation by the whole world, by all the international human rights organizations, the Azerbaijani leadership is expressing its bewilderment about that stance of the international community, is opposing it and is priding itself to have acted correctly. What were they expecting? That the international community would applaud this lamentable act? The leadership of that country claims that what was that was just very good. It is shameful that a leader of any country could consider the heroization of a murderer as something good.”

Edward Nalbandian reminded as well that the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights warned that the glorification and rewarding of such a person is contrary to all common standards of human rights. The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights has announced that crimes based on ethnic hatred should be condemned and punished appropriately, and not publicly commended.

The Minister emphasized, “Herein lie the differences of perceptions between the international community and Azerbaijani leadership, that is the reason that the international community and Azerbaijan are talking different languages, that is why the civilizational abyss between Azerbaijan and the international community is getting deeper.”