The United States Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group and Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations Ambassador Philip Reeker arrived in Yerevan on Thursday, the US Embassy in Armenia said in a statement.
“The U.S. Embassy to Armenia welcomes Ambassador Philip Reeker, the Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations to Yerevan. During his visit on September 8-10, Ambassador Reeker will meet with government officials to discuss U.S. support for the diplomatic efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan towards a lasting peace and efforts to normalize Armenia-Turkey relations,” the embassy said.
On August 25, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Reeker’s appointment as the United States’ Senior Advisor for Caucasus Negotiations.
“In this capacity, Ambassador Reeker will serve as U.S. OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair and lead negotiator for the U.S. delegation to the Geneva International Discussions during this critical period,” Blinken explained in a statement last month.
This announcement was quickly criticized by official Baku, which warned the U.S. against efforts to “reanimate” the OSCE Minks Group, asserting that Karabakh’s status was determined after the 2020 War.
One of Reeker’s first stops in Yerevan was at the Dzidzernagapert Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex, where he, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador Lynne Tracy, laid a wreath at the Genocide Monument and placed flowers at the Eternal Flame, pausing for a moment of silence in honor of the Genocide victims.
Also accompanying Reeker was Armen Yeganyan, Armenia’s the head of the American department at Armenia’s Foreign Ministry.
The director of the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, Harutyun Marutyan, presented the history of the establishment of the memorial.
Marutyan recounted the history of the three cross-stones at the memorial which are dedicated to the memory of the Armenians who were killed during the ethnic cleansing committed against the Armenian population in Azerbaijan in the end of the previous century.
Marutyan gifted two volumes of “The Armenian Genocide: Prelude and Aftermath. As reported in the U.S. Press – The New York Times” to the guest, the museum-institute said in a press release.
