Yerevan Reluctant To Condemn Iranian Leader For Holocaust Denial

15.12.2005
Armenia Liberty
by Anna Saghabalian and Emil Danielyan

Armenia on Thursday pointedly declined to add its voice to a chorus of international condemnation of Iran’s hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his repeated denial of the Holocaust and other anti-Israeli remarks.

Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said his government sees no need to react to Ahmadinejad’s statements because they are irrelevant to its close ties with Tehran.

“We have always refrained from evaluating this issue,” Oskanian said. “We view our relations with Iran only within a bilateral framework. Such issues have never been discussed in our bilateral relations.”
[...]
Official Yerevan is apparently anxious not to damage its political and economic relations with the Islamic Republic. They are currently being cemented by joint multimillion-dollar energy projects implemented by the two neighboring nations. Ahmadinejad reportedly called for an intensification of the Armenian-Iranian ties “in all areas” when he received President Robert Kocharian’s chief of staff last month.
[...]

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