Armenia, Cyprus Sign Action Plan on Defense Cooperation

NICOSIA (armradio) — Defense Ministers of Armenia and Cyprus Vigen Sargsian and Christoforos Fokaides discussed avenues for deepening defense ties between the two countries, as they met in Cyprus Monday.

Christoforos Fokaides voiced hope that the first official visit for the Armenian Defense Minister since 20002 would give new impetus to bilateral relations.

According to him, the centuries-old Armenian-Cypriot relations, the common interests and challenges serve as important prerequisites for the deepening the ties. He emphasized the role of Armenians, who established in Cyprus back in the 5th century and served a unique bridge between the two countries.

Armenian Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian, in turn, expressed gratitude for the participation of Cyprus’ President and Parliament Speaker for attending events dedicated to Armenian Genocide centennial in 2015.

Minister Sargsian said there are two programs for deepening the defense ties – a minimum program, which includes the steps that need to be taken in the coming months, and a maximum program meant for a longer-term cooperation.

Vigen Sargsian briefed his counterpart on the situation at the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact. The Defense Minister of Cyprus welcomed the Armenian side’s commitment to solve the issue exceptionally in a peaceful way, despite periodic provocations on the part of Azerbaijan.

Following the meeting the parties signed the Action Plan for defense cooperation between Armenia and Cyprus in 2017, as well as an agreement between the Governments of Armenia and Cyprus on mutual protection of secret information.