Turkey will be represented at the 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity—to be held in Yerevan—at the ministerial level. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this at the press briefing after the Armenia government’s Cabinet session on Thursday.

As for Azerbaijan's participation in this event, the head of the Armenian government said that at the moment he had not received any confirmed information about it.

Also, he answered the question about corruption risks in connection with Armenia hosting COP17.

"Where money is spent, such risks are always present, and our task is to manage these risks. For this, there exist corresponding circles and supervisory bodies. Not to mention that when making decisions, the [Armenian] government took into account all these risks and created new procedures within the framework of UN procedures," Pashinyan said.

According to him, the only question is how expedient it is to hold this event in Armenia.

“I believe that this is a very important contribution to the development of the Republic of Armenia. Tens of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises have received an opportunity to earn money,” the premier of Armenia said.

He noted that more than 15,000 people will arrive in Armenia this month within the framework of COP17. This, he said, will enable raising the country’s profile.

“We are confident that every penny spent [for this event] will eventually end up in the pockets of the citizens and return to the state budget of the Republic of Armenia,” the head of the Armenian government concluded.