Cyprus will open diplomatic mission in Armenia soon, FM announces

Foreign Affairs Minister Constantinos Kombos has announced that Cyprus will be opening a diplomatic mission in Yerevan soon. 

Kombos, who paid Armenia an official visit on 6 and 7 March, announced this decision during joint statements he made with his counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan, a Foreign Affairs Ministry press release said.

The Cypriot Minister had a private meeting with Mirzoyan, followed by expanded talks with the participation of delegations from both Ministries, during which bilateral relations, EU-Armenia relations, the situation in Nagorno Karabakh and the peace negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan were reviewed. 

The two Ministers also discussed international developments focusing on the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Kombos briefed Mirzoyan about current developments in the Cyprus problem, conveying the Cypriot government's readiness for a resumption of talks aiming to reach a viable solution, in the form of a bizonal, bicommunal federation with political equality, as is provided for in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.

At the same time, the press release continues, he thanked the Armenian Foreign Affairs Minister for the long-standing principled position Armenia has on the Cyprus problem.

Following the consultations, Kombos and Mirzoyan signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the two Foreign Affairs Ministries.

According to the press release, in joint statements to the press afterwards, Kombos announced the Cypriot government's decision to open a diplomatic mission in Yerevan soon. He further announced that the Republic of Cyprus would fund the construction of ten greenhouses in the context of an initiative in aid of the displaced of Nagorno Karabakh in cooperation with NGO "My Step Foundation" and the Armenian National Agriculture University.

The Foreign Affairs Minister was received by President Vahagn Khachaturyan and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan while he also had a meeting with the member of the Cyprus - Armenia Interparliamentary Committee of Cooperation.

"During the meetings the excellent level of bilateral relations was reconfirmed and the will of both parties to further enhance cooperation was expressed," the press release reads. 

Kombos also visited the Armenian Genocide Monument where he laid a wreath on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus in honour of the genocide's victims, it concludes.

(Source: CNA)