On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Greece and Armenia, the famous lighthouse of the city of Chania on the island of Crete and the building of the city hall of Alexandroupoli in northeastern Greece were illuminated in the colors of the Armenian flag, the Armenian Embassy in Greece reports.

The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Hellenic Republic were established on January 20, 1992. Cooperation between the two friendly countries is developing dynamically and includes political, defense, trade and economic, education, science, culture, tourism, and a number of other spheres of mutual interest. There is a strong legal framework between the two countries: Armenia and Greece have signed more than 40 legal documents so far.

The Armenian-Greek Intergovernmental Commission on economic, industrial, technical and scientific cooperation is functioning effectively.

The political consultations between the Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Greece are held regularly.

Inter-parliamentary relations

There are friendship groups operating in the parliaments of the two countries. The head of the Armenia-Greece friendship group of the National Assembly of Armenia is Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, while in the Greek parliament the head of the group is Dimitrios Markopoulos.

On April 25, 1966, the Greek Parliament passed a resolution recognizing the April 24, 1915 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. On September 9, 2014 a bill was adopted against the denial of the Armenian Genocide criminalizing racism and xenophobia.

In March, 2015 the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia unanimously adopted a statement condemning the genocide of the Greek-Assyrians by the Ottoman Empire.

Multilateral cooperation

Cooperation in the international platforms and multilateral formats plays an important role in the Armenian-Greek relations. Both Armenia and Greece have largely consistent approaches to many issues on the international agenda.

Armenia attaches great importance to Greece’s consistent efforts towards the agenda of the prevention of genocides and crimes against humanity.

In 2015, at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, Greece co-authored the resolution on Declaring an International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime, which was initiated by the Republic of Armenia, and in 2018 at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Greece has co-authored the resolution on “The Prevention of Genocide”.

Armenia also values the active role of Greece in the context of strengthening the Armenia-EU relations and the Armenia-NATO dialogue, including the cooperation in the field of peacekeeping.

On July 7, 2020, the Greek Parliament ratified the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Extended Partnership Agreement, which is a new legal basis for the relations with the EU and the EU member states.

Armenia-Greece-Cyprus trilateral cooperation

Armenia-Greece close cooperation is also ongoing within the Armenia-Greece-Cyprus trilateral format. On June 24, 2019 the first trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia, Greece and Cyprus took place in Nicosia as a result of which a joint statement was issued, which emphasizes that the sole purpose of the trilateral cooperation is to promote peace, stability and prosperity through the extensive political dialogue and partnership between the participating states.

On September 25, 2019 the second trilateral meeting of the Foreign Ministers took place in New York within the framework of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

The first Armenia-Greece-Cyprus trilateral summit is planned to be held in Armenia.