The Minister of National Defence Panos Kammenos, in the context of the official visit that he pays to Armenia, met with the Minister of Defence Seyran Ohanyan and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandian. He also met with Armenian officers, graduates of the Hellenic Military Academy.

After the meeting with Armenia’s Minister of Defence, the Minister of National Defence Panos Kammenos stated the following:

“I wish to thank the Minister of Defence, in particular, the Armenian people and the Armenian Armed Forces for their very warm welcome.

The Greek Minister of Defence does not feel like a foreigner in the Defence Ministry of Armenia, just like the Armenian Minister of Defence does not feel like a foreigner in the Greek Ministry of National Defence.

Our people’s history has been written with blood spilt from the same knife. One hundred years since the Genocide of the Armenian people and Pontic Greeks, we will organize common commemorations because the peoples, who forget their history, die.

In this new reality, although Greece and Armenia have moved on, they keep facing challenges in their regions. Greece’s national air space and territorial waters are still violated by Turkish Armed Forces. Half the territory of Cyprus remains occupied by Turkish occupation troops. Yet our Armed Forces with excellent training, with exchange of officers trained in both countries, with excellent relations with NATO and the EU, as well as Russia, are a guarantee for stability in the wider area.

Our two peoples are united like brothers, so will be our Armed Forces too.

We move, together with Armenia’s Minister of Defence, towards cooperation in the field of Defence Industry; a cooperation that will help the economic development of our countries and, definitely, the close cooperation of our Armed Forces.

I thank him very much because he informed me about all the problems in the area, about Nagorno-Karabakh and about the terrorism issue. Terrorism, especially the one caused by Islamic fundamentalism is an enemy to all free countries. We will have a closer cooperation and we will shape such conditions in which, when you prepare for a war, you ensure peace. I believe that we will succeed it.

Thank you very much.”