OSCE most efficient platform for Karabakh settlement: Greek President

PanARMENIAN.Net - President Serzh Sargsyan arrived in Greece Monday, March 14 at the invitation of his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

Before the high-level negotiations in Athens, President Serzh Sargsyan laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Armenian leader’s press office said.

During the meeting, the Presidents discussed interstate relations and issues pertinent to the bilateral and multilateral cooperation in the framework of international and regional organizations. Interparliamentary ties, the process of international recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide and issues related to the Nagorno Karabakh peace process were also discussed. The leaders further dwelled upon the most pressing issues on the international agenda, the Armenia-EU relations and Greece’s role in their development.

The private meeting was followed by an official dinner, with Sargsyan hailing the Greek people and their hospitality. “True to their principles, one hundred years ago Greece gave shelter to the thousands of Armenians who lost their fatherland and their homes,” Sargsyan noted.

The Greek President, in turn, stressed the historical ties between the two ancient nations. “At the beginning of the 20th century, both nations went through indescribable hardships, evidenced by the history of the Armenian people, the Pontic Greeks and events that the Greeks of Asia Minor faced. We will not forget the Armenian Genocide of 1915. Greece was among the few countries to give refuge to the deported Armenians and recognize the Genocide, while the Armenian Parliament recognized the genocide of the Pontic Greeks,” Pavlopoulos said.

Also, he unwrapped Greece’s position on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, citing the OSCE Minsk Group as the most efficient platform for the peaceful settlement of the conflict.

Later that day, both leaders attended the opening of the exhibition “Armenia: The Spirit of Ararat” at the Byzantine and Christian Museum of Athens, with Sargsyan also meeting with representatives of Armenian institutions of Greece.