Armenia and Cyprus bound by historical and cultural ties, MPs say

A delegation of Armenian MPs representing the Armenia-Cyprus Inter-parliamentary cooperation commission joined the House foreign affairs committee on Tuesday to discuss the strengthening of cooperation between Cyprus and Armenia.

“The historical and cultural ties that connect Cyprus and Armenia are known, but the challenges we face are also common,” committee chair Haris Georgiades told reporters after the session.

“Unfortunately, Azerbaijan’s revisionist aggressive policy is a cause for concern,” he added. “It is causing a humanitarian crisis, it is causing destabilisation throughout the region”.

He pledged the government’s alliance with Armenia, saying that it was decided to further coordinate at parliamentary level in order to come up with an information campaign “to promote the common agenda of the well-intentioned interests of the two countries”.

During the session, Georgiades touched on the Cyprus issue, saying that things in Cyprus are tough at the moment because there is no visible agreement on the matter due to the intransigence of Turkish policy.

“Turkey is interested in the consolidation of the occupation’s faits accomplis,” he said, expressing the willingness to take advantage of Cyprus’s participation in the EU and in other forums to inform international public opinion.

The ties between Cyprus and Armenia are at the highest possible level, expressed through solidarity in important political issues, Akel deputy George Loukaides said.

To this end, he added, the House resolution condemning Azerbaijan’s stance on Nagorno-Karabakh is no coincidence.

At the same time, Loukaides said there is scope for further strengthening the cooperation between the two countries in matters of education and tourism, adding that the presence of diplomatic missions should be a priority.

Addressing the Armenian MPs, he asked them if there will be any significant changes in Turkey’s policy towards Armenia after the upcoming elections in Turkey.

Diko’s Chrysis Pantelides said that the relations between the two countries are not simply based on the past, stressing that they must cooperate against Turkey and Azerbaijan’s expansionist tendencies.

“The ground is being created for deepening relations in the fields of economy, trade and education,” he noted.

“The invasion of Cyprus and Artsakh are not treated by the international community like the invasion of Ukraine,” Elam’s Christos Christou said, saying Armenia and Cyprus share a common, bloody history.

“Consider us your friends,” he said.

Such meetings are beneficial for both countries, since they strengthen relations and help to deal with national issues, Dipa’s Marios Garoyan said. “We cannot be satisfied just with what we have achieved so far”.

 

Turkey did not hide its aspirations towards Cyprus and Armenia, he said, suggesting that Cyprus and Armenia must act in conjunction.

Finally, he wished for conditions of unity in Armenia as in Cyprus.

“In Cyprus we consider you brothers,” Green Party MP Alexandra Attalidou said. “We know very well how much the Armenian people suffered. The presence of Armenians has enriched Cyprus,”

Vartkes Mahdessian, parliamentary representative of the Armenians of Cyprus, said that Cyprus and Armenia are two countries with common problems and a common enemy.

“Azerbaijan has never hidden that it wants Nagorno-Karabakh without Armenians. The international community must contribute to the de-escalation of the situation,” he said.

Hayk Konjoryan, head of the Armenian delegation, extended an invitation for his Cypriot counterparts to visit Armenia.

“The Cyprus-Armenia parliamentary delegations cooperate at all levels,” he added, expressing his appreciation for the Cypriot attitude towards Azerbaijan’s attack on Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as gratitude for the House’s resolution condemning Azerbaijan’s aggression.

“We appreciate the efforts of Cyprus for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide,” Konjoryan said, adding that the Cyprus-Armenia-Greece trilateral scheme will benefit the three peoples.

He also expressed the will to deepen mutual diplomatic representation. Finally, he praised the role of the Armenian community of Cyprus, and that of Mahdessian in deepening the relations between the two countries.

Armenian MP Vladimir Vardanyan said what is happening in Ukraine, Syria and Nagorno-Karabakh is happening because the international community has not gotten the messages since 1974.

“Because European MPs have focused on Ukraine, other conflicts have been left out,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Armenian delegation was received by House president Annita Demetriou, and attended meetings with Defence Minister Michalis Giorgallas and other officials.