YEREVAN. – On January 18, fifteen Armenia-based NGOs petitioned to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and expressed their concern by the plan to relocate the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) European Regional Centre from Bratislava to Istanbul, Aravot daily reports.    

“Aravot asked ‘For Sustainable Human Development’ Association Chairwoman Karine Danielyan as to how this relocation would obstruct the activities of Armenia’s NGOs. 

‘It will obstruct a lot because we need to coordinate all the steps of our office with the regional office, [and] subsequently, with the central office. If the regional office were to be in a country like Turkey, its impact would be huge. It is not a coincidence that Turkey has gotten active [only] now. The 100th anniversary of the [Armenian] Genocide is drawing near and we will work with the UN on numerous [relevant] matters. And it turns out that we will be working with Turkey [on this matter],’ Karine Danielyan noted,” Aravot writes.