Certainly, we are not free to choose our neighborhood, but each state has an obligation to follow certain set of universal principles and norms.

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian stated the aforesaid on Wednesday, during his lecture on Armenia’s foreign policy, and which he delivered before diplomats, analysts, and journalists in Rome.

In his speech, he noted, in particular:

“Next year marks the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. 70 years passed, unfortunately, the world is not immune from this evil. The actions of terrorists against ethnic and religious groups in the Middle East vividly indicate the relevance of the Convention. As a nation that passed through the horrors of the Genocide, Armenians feel moral obligation in contributing to the international efforts for preventing crimes against humanity. […]

In 2001, at the Memorial of the Victims of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan, His Holiness John Paul II during his prayer for those who perished stressed that in 1915 His Holiness Pope Benedict XV vehemently protested against the annihilation of the Armenian nation. One hundred years later, during the Armenian Genocide commemoration mass in Vatican, His Holiness Pope Francis said: "Concealing or denying evil is like allowing a wound to keep bleeding without bandaging it".

Certainly, we are not free to choose our neighborhood, but each and every state has an obligation to follow certain set of universal principles and norms. Armenia is fully committed to contributing to international peace, good-neighborly relations, formation of a world free of dividing lines and conflicts, and guided by the principles of equality, partnership and cooperation.”