S. Sargsyan: “When Turkey corresponds to European standards…”
Serzh Sargsyan and First Lady Rita Sargsyan arrived in the Republic of Greece on a state visit at the invitation of President of Greece Karolos Papulias.
After the official reception, Serzh Sargsyan held private talks with his Greek counterpart Carolos Papulias, followed by a meeting with the delegations of both countries in a wide format.
The signing of a number of documents aimed at strengthening bilateral relations in a number of spheres and deepening cooperation was held within the framework of the state visit. Among documents were the "Agreement on Military Cooperation between the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Greece", the "Program for Cooperation between the RA Government and the Government of the Republic of Greece in the Spheres of Education, Science and Culture in 2011-2013", as well as "A Memorandum of Mutual Understanding between the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Armenia and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Greece on Organizing and Conducting "Days of Armenian Culture" in the Republic of Greece in 2012 and the "Days of Greek Culture" in the Republic of Armenia in 2013.
"We attached importance to the Armenian-Greek business forum held in Athens and came to the conclusion that the economies of Armenia and Greece are overcoming the effects of the crisis and our businessmen can do a lot to overcome the effects as soon as possible," said Serzh Sargsyan in his speech during a briefing with mass media outlets.
Speaking about the NKR conflict, Sargsyan said: "I presented my Greek counterpart with the latest developments of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict resolution. I reaffirmed Armenia's position that despite Baku's endless threats to apply force, Armenia stays true to the policy of resolving the conflict in the format of negotiations with the OSCE Minsk Group."
As far as Armenian-Turkish relations are concerned, "Armenia tried to take one step further to establish normal relations between neighboring countries, but didn't see the necessary political will on the part of Turkey. I am pleased to hear that our colleagues are not against Turkey's EU integration, but to reach that goal by remembering the past and cooperation with neighboring countries in a civilized manner. When Turkey corresponds to European standards, we will have a more predictable neighbor."
