The President of Greece, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, paid an official visit to Armenia ahead of the first-ever trilateral summit between Greece, Cyprus and Armenia which will be held in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, in January.
In welcoming the Greek president, Armenian prime minister Prime Nikol Pashinyan said the visit would develop and expand friendly relations between the two countries.
Mr Pashinyan recalled meeting the Greek president in Beijing during the Forum of Asian Civilizations where they spoke in detail about the relations between the two countries. He said he met the new prime minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotaki,s in September.
“Now we are looking further to the first-ever Armenia-Greece-Cyprus trilateral summit due in Yereven in January 2020,” said Mr Pashinyan.
“I would like to state that Armenia has a special attitude towards Greece. Our people highly value the fact that back in 1996 Greece officially recognised the Armenian Genocide. I want to remind (sic) that in 2015, the Armenian Parliament officially recognised the genocides of Greeks and Assyrians.”
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Mr Pavlopoulos said that he also welcomed the recent passing of a resolution on the Armenian Genocide by the US House of Respesentitives.
“This is not a matter of revenge for us: we are doing it in a bid to prevent the recurrence of the crime of genocide,” said Mr Pavlopoulos.
On the forthcoming summit, the Greek president said that the meetings should be held at ministerial and top leadership levels.
“I am confident that the trilateral format of cooperation can not only benefit our countries but it can also catalyse (sic) Armenia’s cooperation with the European Union,” said Mr Pavlopoulos.
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Mr Pashinyan called on Greece to ratify as soon as possible the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
Mr Pavlopoulos laid a wreath at the Armenian Genocide Memorial.