On the last day of the General Assembly’s high-level debate on October 1, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian, pledged to make a “feasible contribution” to United Nations reform stressing the urgency of the settlement of disputes by peaceful means.
“A few days ago, in the framework of the UN, the first-ever High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace took place, urging tolerance and building mutual understanding and mutual respect,” Nalbandian told the 67th Assembly at its general debate, at the UN Headquarters in New York.
“Unfortunately,” he added, “nowadays hate and intolerance are continuing to spread in some parts of the world and we have yet to dig into the roots and causes of such a situation, to have the courage to openly ask difficult questions on the reasons and face sometimes painful responses.”
In his statement, Nalbandian referred to what he termed the government of Azerbaijan’s “release and glorification” of Ramil Safarov, who was convicted of killing an Azeri officer, saying, “the scandalous affair has serious undermined the Nagorno-Karabagh negotiation process and endangered the fragile regional security and stability.”
Nalbandian also voiced concern at the worsening situation in Syria, which he said directly affected the large Armenian community. “The denial of genocide and impunity pave the way for the repetition of new crimes against humanity,” he noted.
Nalbandian is one of scores of world leaders and other high-level officials presenting their views and comments on issues of individual, national and international relevance at the Assembly’s general debate.
