Armenia-Lebanon: The Parties are Not Going to be Limited with the Current Cooperation Level

• 02.28.2018, 19:20
•  Near East,  World,  Armenia,  Analytics

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The 84-year-old Lebanese President Michel Aoun's visit to Armenia has proven Armenia's long-term and sustainable cooperation with Lebanon as well as its further development. It should be noted that the agenda of the Lebanese President's visit was quite saturated.

During his visit to Armenia, the President of Lebanon visited Tsitsernakaberd, paying tribute to the memory of the victims of the Armenian Genocide. This is not accidental, as it is known that Lebanon is one of the few Arab countries that have so far recognized the Armenian Genocide. The main motive for such a position of Arab countries is perhaps the religious factor and the relations with Turkey. It should be noted that Lebanon not only recognized the Armenian Genocide, but also heartily accepted many Armenians at those difficult times, giving them the opportunity to live and create in their country.

During his short visit, the President of Lebanon managed to have a number of meetings with Armenian officials, particularly the RA PM Karen Karapetyan, NA Speaker Ara Babloyan and others. In addition, Michel Aoun also met with His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians at the Holy Etchmiadzin Church. Naturally, a meeting was held with the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan. First they held a private talk at the Presidential Palace, after which the Armenian-Lebanese high-level talks were held in the enlarged format. Later in summarizing the meeting in front of mass media, the presidents named the main points discussed during a private talk.

Among other things, the Presidents stressed the need for maintaining high-level political dialogue between Armenia and Lebanon as well as the importance of further development of inter-parliamentary relations. This, naturally, is of great importance to our country. Taking into account the circumstance that Armenia is moving from April to a new, parliamentary system of government, it is necessary to use the possibilities provided by parliamentary diplomacy tools as effectively as possible.

The sides also praised the effective cooperation and mutual assistance of two countries in international structures. Let us mention that this issue naturally gets much more vital when it comes to protecting the interests of each other in international institutions in which no country is represented.

Serzh Sargsyan also briefed the Lebanese President on the latest developments in the Karabakh peace process. The sides agreed that any resolution of this issue should be only based on the right of the people of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to live freely in their historic territory.

During the meeting of the Presidents of Lebanon and Armenia, it was also mentioned about the large number of Armenians living in this Arab country. It should be noted that the Armenians of Lebanon have always had a significant role in the political, economic and cultural life of the country, preserving their own culture and national identity at the same time. This is evidenced by the fact that Lebanon had three Armenian presidents. Today there are two Armenian ministers in the Lebanese government. It is not accidental that many of the Lebanese delegation accompanying President Michel Aoun during his visit to Armenia, were also of Armenian origin.

It should be noted that in terms of development of bilateral relations, the sides attached great importance to the economic component, the importance of the work being done to increase the volume of trade circulation, as the legal-contractual field regulating almost the entire economic sphere exists between the two countries.

Thousands of documents have been signed between Armenia and Lebanon so far, active cooperation exists in both political and cultural spheres, and steps are taken in the economic sphere, but the Lebanese President's visit once again proved that the parties are not going to be limited with the current level of bilateral cooperation. There is a tendency of strengthening it further.