YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–At the invitation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation’s Central Committee of Greece–Karabakh Foreign Minister Arkady Ghoukassian completed his working visit to Greece Thursday.
This visit coincided with the sixth anniversary of the Karabakh independence–and according to Nairi Melkoumian–Karabakh deputy representative to Armenia–the major aim of the visit was to inform public political organizations in Greece on the Karabakh issue.
According to Nairi Melkoumian–deputy Karabakh’s representative to Armenia–the main goal of the visit was to inform public-political circles of Greece about the Karabakh problem.
Several meetings were held with various Greek opposition leaders–as well as representatives of the ruling party. Talks were also held with Greek deputies to the European Parliament–and particularly with chairman of the Europarliament’s commission for relations with the Caucasus Alexandros Alavanos. These meetings–according to Melkoumian–are of special importance–because Greece is a parliamentary republic and political parties have a strong influence on the government’s policies.
In his report "Historical Justice and International Law" delivered at the institute of political sciences "Pandio," the foreign minister reiterated the historical and legal grounds for Karabakh’s independence. Ghoukassian also contrasted the Azeri and Karabakh realities by saying–"While it true that Azerbaijan has oil–at the same time it is equally–if not more important to remember that Karabakh has the Diaspora."
According to Melkoumian–Armenia’s will serve as a base for business cooperation with Karabakh. As an example she pointed out the strong support of the ARF Central Committee of Greece–the Armenian National Committee of Greece–as well as the employees at the Armenian embassy in Greece during the dignitaries’ visit in Greece.
"We were impressed by the care the Armenian community gives to its schools–which are essentially the only means of preserving the Armenian culture and heritage. Greek-Armenia’s enjoy a supportive and sympathetic environment–which is not true of all diasporan communities," Melkoumian noted.
Ghoukassian’s visit received wide coverage in the Greek media.
