D. AVRAMOPOULOS: It is with great joy that I received today at the Ministry of National Defence, , the Minister of Defence of Armenia -a fellow country- and a good friend of mine, Mister Seyran Ohanyan, a significant personality of Armenia.
Our meeting and the discussions that followed, come after my recent visit at Yerevan, about a month ago, and of course their aim was and still is the enhancement of the traditional and excellent relations between the two countries.
History has registered and it has connected with indissoluble bonds our peoples, who have close friendship and brotherhood relations that have been hammered through struggles for freedom, national independence and social justice.
Undoubtedly, our relations overcome the typical character of standard diplomatic relations or contacts, and the common values, both countries’ political structures lean against, explain and form at the same time the excellent background of our bilateral relations.
While reviewing our defence relations, we reiterate – and we do so with deep satisfaction – their excellent progress at all levels. Something that, as you already know, is confirmed by the big number of Armenian militaries who attend Greek military academies with scholarships, by the exchange of know-how on weapon armaments, by the creation of a Greek-Armenian company that has been founded already with the participation of PYRKAL in Armenia, for the production of laser technology materiel, but also by other bilateral defence cooperation.
The thorough and further enhancement of our defence relations finally serves and contributes to the safeguarding of security in our, often turbulent, geopolitical region.
At this point, I would like to point out once more that the Hellenic defence system, one of the best in Europe, is always servicing security, cooperation, peace and good neighbourhood; and this is what brings our countries closer.
Besides, the volatile situation in security, observed in our broader region, can only be improved through a combination of multiple facts, including of course political cooperation, military capability and the common policies of countries and international organisations.
Greece, in the context of the presidency that will start on January 1st, as you know, will keep on playing an important role: being the bridge towards the tightening of Armenian-EU relations and cooperation; a perspective that has a lot to offer to Armenia’s institutional reform, irrespective of its accession to other supra-national institutions and unions.
At this point, I would like to remind something we touched upon during the official dinner held last night in honour of my Armenian colleague, also attended by the members of the steering board of the Armenian Community in Athens.
We should never overlook the importance and the role of our Diaspora in the world, much more so a Diaspora like the Greek and the Armenian, which count millions of Greeks and Armenians scattered in every corner of our planet.
We discussed with mister Minister the promotion of initiatives, so that our Diasporas can cooperate at global level, something that – we should point out – has not been done yet, at least in an institutional manner.
Many of our fellow countrymen live and triumph all over the world, proving that they are a guarantee force for their countries and for the confirmation of our peoples’ universality, at an era when globalisation is imposed sometimes in a positive and others in a negative way.
I would like to express publicly once more my satisfaction for the visit paid by the Minister and his delegation, and to thank him for the fruitful discussions we just had.
Summing up, I would like to thank our Deputy Ministers who aid us in this project. The Minister of National Defence of Greece, mister Davakis, but also his Armenian colleague David Tonoyan, as well as the Chiefs of our General Staffs.
The cooperation between these two countries in the field of defence is ideal. This defence cooperation comes to serve the supreme and noble goal we have all set as a priority; the configuration of an environment, a neighbourhood with security, peace, cooperation, for the benefit of all peoples in our region.
S. OHANYAN: Honourable Minister, my friend Dimitris, it is a great honour for me and the members of my delegation to pay an official visit to Greece. I would like to thank you for the invitation. In relation to the upcoming Hellenic Armed Forces’ Day, I congratulate the Armed Forces and wish success, peace and prosperity to the Greek people.
Greek-Armenian relations have a long history and they are based on the friendly relations of our peoples, as well as on the common perception in the framework of issues relating to international security and the eagerness for mutual help and cooperation. Currently, military and defence-technical issues are placed in this context. Our relations in the field of defence encompass several fields, most important among which are military training, military medicine, keeping of peace, organisation of special teams, military productivity, as well as the exchange of experience, through high-level visits from both sides.
Particularly in the past period, these visits prove that our relations are at a respective level and our wish is to further upgrade them.
The initiative you proposed, for the renewal and development at a new level of all agreements that have been signed between our two countries since 1996, as well as your proposal to form a high-level coordinative committee, have been considered by our side and the relevant remarks have been made; we shall continue working towards this direction for their further improvement.
At the time, given that mutual visits also have a symbolic character, I invite you to participate, in 2014, to the celebration for the 22nd anniversary since the establishment of the Armenian Armed Forces. I hope that you will accept the invitation or appoint a formal political or high-rank military delegation to attend the celebrations.
I would like to thank you for the hospitality. I hope that our friendly relations will expand to the further tightening of Greek and Armenian communities’ relations, in various countries of the world.
I would like to thank you and wish success to the Armed Forces and also the entire Greek people.