By Anna Ghazaryan
Armenian News-NEWS.am presents an interview with Israel’s Ambassador to Armenia H.E. Mr. Shmuel Meirom.
Armenians will mark centennial of the Armenian Genocide with numerous events this April. Will an Israeli delegation participate in the events?
This year, Israel's Independence Day begins on the evening of April 22nd, and is celebrated throughout the following day on April 23rd. April 24th occurs on a Friday, and the Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday evening. Therefore, it is not a simple matter for Israeli representatives to participate in official events on that day. From our point of view, the 24th of April is a very problematic date for holding any kind of official visit. I am nonetheless hopeful that sometime during the year, an official Israeli delegation will visit Yerevan.
President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erodgan has announced April 24 the day when Turkey will mark the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli. Israeli and Turkish officials have recently exchanged critical remarks. Have Israeli officials received an invitation to visit Turkey given that there were many critical remarks?
An Israeli official will not be visiting Turkey on April 24th, not only for the reasons that I mentioned above, but also because we have not received an invitation to that event.
Israel is one of the countries selling weapons to Azerbaijan. Numerous incidents were registered in the Karabakh conflict zone within recent weeks..What do you think must be done to prevent further escalation?
As in the case of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, like Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, we believe that only direct talks between the parties can achieve a solution. Therefore, we support the Minsk Group, which is encouraging such talks.
In 2000s Israel was one of the major investors in Armenia's diamond cutting industry. Can we hope that with increase of dollar rate, Armenia may attract Israeli businessmen? Are Israeli jewelers interested in working in Armenian free economic zone?
I believe that once the free economic zone gets underway, it will attract Israeli diamond businessman and jewelers as well as Israeli businessman from other fields.
Last December Armenia and Israel signed an intergovernmental agreement to intensify ties in customs sector. How can this agreement help in promoting trade ties?
The Customs Agreement, as well as the Tax Duplication Agreement, which was already initialed, is intended to pave the way for businesspeople to engage in ventures with greater feasibility. Our hope is that once these agreements enter into effect, they will lead to an increase in the volume of trade between Israel and Armenia.
