YEREVAN. – Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) should not substitute a country’s authorities, but rather complement them.  

Armenian Analytical Centre on Globalization and Regional Cooperation Director, political scientist Stepan Grigoryan noted the aforesaid at a press conference on Saturday.

Grigoryan reflected on the NGOs role in people’s diplomacy.

“People’s diplomacy works quite effectively in democratic countries, where they respect public opinion and take it into account. Armenia is seeking to become such a country,” he noted. 

In the analyst’s conviction, informal contacts at the level of NGOs yield a more desired result than formal contacts. 

Speaking on the Armenian NGOs’ contacts with the Turkish and Azerbaijani communities, Grigoryan specifically said: 

“In the case of Turkey, the society is freer, and it is much easier to establish contacts with them. The people’s diplomacy is changing the mood within Turkey.”    

In Stepan Grigoryan’s words, there are positive examples also in the cooperation between the Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations, as there are cases when the two parties have voted on a matter in the same way. 

Photo by Arsen Sargsyan/NEWS.am