Cyprus FM pays a two-day official visit to Armenia

Cyprus Minister of Foreign Affairs, Constantinos Kombos, will pay an official visit to Armenia on March 6 and 7, according to a press release issued by the Foreign Ministry. During his stay in the capital Yerevan, Kombos will have a private meeting with the Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan, followed by extended talks between the delegations of the two Ministries. It is noted that the discussions will focus on bilateral relations between Cyprus and Armenia, developments in the Cyprus problem, as well as the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and the Armenia-Azerbaijan peace negotiations. It is added that the European Union (EU)-Armenia relations and the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East will also be reviewed. Moreover the Foreign Minister, accompanied by his counterpart, will visit the Armenian Genocide Memorial and will lay a wreath on behalf of the Republic of Cyprus, paying tribute to the victims of the genocide. Finally, it is noted that in the framework of his visit, the Foreign Minister w ill be received by the President of Armenia, Vahagn Khachaturyan and the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, and will meet with the members of the Cyprus-Armenia Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkey invaded and occupied its northern third. Repeated rounds of UN-led peace talks have so far failed to yield results. The latest round of negotiations, in July 2017 at the Swiss resort of Crans-Montana ended inconclusively. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed María Ángela Holguín Cuéllar of Columbia as his personal envoy for Cyprus, to assume a Good Offices role on his behalf and search for common ground on the way forward in the Cyprus issue. Source: Cyprus News Agency