Armenian-Cypriot Relations Evolve

Armenia’s ambassador to Greece, Albania, and Cyprus, Tigran Mkrtchyan, is in Cyprus to transition to a historic step in the relationship between Cyprus and Armenia.

Mkrtchyan discussed development Feb. 25 the coming arrival of a resident ambassador to Cyprus from Armenia. Inna Torgomyan will arrive in Cyprus in the coming weeks to strengthen relationships directly with Cyprus while Mkrtchyan continues to work with Greece and Albania.

On the international stage, Cyprus has been under military occupation by Turkey for over 50 years. Turkey also supported Azerbaijan conduct military operations against the Armenian Republic of Artsakh. Azerbaijan completed its invasion of Artsakh in 2023 and displaced approximately 120,000 ethnic Armenians from their ancestral homeland.

With a resident ambassador, items of mutual interest between Armenia and Cyprus can develop at a quicker rate with direct communication between the diplomats, instead of having one ambassador split their time between three countries.

Mkrtchyan dismissed claims Armenia’s investment in its defense reforms preludes plans to attack Azerbaijan and said Armenia seeks peace with its neighbors.

“The most important thing is political will, Mkrtchyan said, “Whether Azerbaijan will find in itself strength enough to move forward, normalize relations with Armenia, sign the peace agreement [and] put aside its aggressive, hostile rhetoric.”

Armenians were the first nation to embrace Christianity as its state religion and the region of Nagorno Karabakh (also known as Artsakh) contains historical religious and cultural sites at risk of destruction or falsification - Azerbaijan is accused of altering historical Armenian sites to reflect a false historical narrative that the site always belonged to Azerbaijan.

Armenia is increasing relations with other countries to ensure violence is prevented and peace can be maintained in the region for the benefit of everyone. One initiative involves the “Crossroads of Peace” plan.

“The region, instead of being a hotbed of conflicts, disagreements, wars and suffering, has the potential of becoming a region of cooperation, economic cooperation, [and] peaceful engagement,” Mkrtchyan said.

Mkrtchyan added Armenia’s position in the Caucasus can be an avenue for economic development as a crossroads for trade if all nations pursue a policy of peaceful cooperation.