On Feb. 16, RA Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan paid an official visit to Baghdad. At the airport, he was greeted by Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebar. The welcoming ceremony was followed by the ministers’ short talks.

On Feb. 17, Minister Nalbandyan was received by Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq Nuri Al-Maliki.

Welcoming Armenia’s Foreign Minister, Iraq’s Prime Minister mentioned that his country is interested in the deepening of cooperation with Armenia in all possible spheres and underlined the fact that there is great potential for that.

Expressing gratitude for the reception, Minister Nalbandyan underlined the fact that the relations between the Armenians and the Iraqi trace back to centuries. “We highly appreciate the relations established between our two friendly nations and countries and wish to develop them, and that is the main purpose of my visit,” the minister said.

Iraq’s Prime Minister and Armenia’s Foreign Minister discussed in detail the steps for expanding the legal-contractual field between the two countries, promoting cooperation in trade, economy, education, healthcare, agriculture and several other spheres and establishing direct air communication between Armenia and Iraq and attached importance to the fruitful efforts of the inter-governmental commission.

Armenia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs informed Prime Minister Al-Maliki about Armenia’s intention to establish a Consulate General in Erbil.

Minister Nalbandyan also informed about the Armenian government’s decision on facilitating the visa regime for citizens of Iraq entering Armenia and voiced hope that that will strengthen business ties, especially since the entrepreneurs of both countries show interest.

The sides mentioned with satisfaction that trade circulation has grown a lot over the past four years and already makes up nearly 80,000,000 dollars.

Touching upon the Iraqi-Armenian community, Nuri Al-Maliki said: “For centuries, the Armenians have worked and created in Iraq and have made their contributions to the country’s development. Today, despite the difficult situation, the Iraqi-Armenians continue to work for Iraq’s prosperity.”

On the same day, Minister Nalbandyan had a meeting with Iraq’s Vice-President Khudeir Al-Kuzayi.

Welcoming Minister Nalbandyan, the Vice-President of Iraq mentioned that the Armenian-Iraqi cooperation has grown considerably in the past couple of years and attached importance to the reopening of the embassies of the two countries in Baghdad and Yerevan and the high-level reciprocal visits. The Vice-President also underlined the fact that Iraq is ready to take big steps for the development of relations with Armenia.

Expressing gratitude for the reception, Edward Nalbandyan asked the Vice-President to convey the greetings and good wishes of President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to President of Iraq Jalal Talabani.

During the meeting, the sides touched upon cooperation in politics, trade, economy, education, culture and healthcare.

Iraq’s Vice-President presented the government’s efforts aimed at strengthening stability and security in the country.

On Feb. 17, Armenian and Iraqi Ministers of Foreign Affairs Edward Nalbandyan and Hoshyar Zebari held talks in Baghdad.

Welcoming Edward Nalbandyan’s visit to Baghdad, Hoshyar Zebari expressed confidence that the visit would bring a new sweep to the multifaceted cooperation. “Over the past two years, the two ministers have had several meetings and have reached several agreements, according to which we have taken steps to raise the level of cooperation to a new level, and today, we see the positive results, that is, the reopening of the embassies, the active inter-governmental commission, mutual support within international organizations and the considerable growth of trade circulation,” Iraq’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

Expressing gratitude for the invitation to visit Baghdad and the warm reception, Minister Nalbandyan mentioned: “What links the Iraqis and Armenians is the traditional friendship that has stood the test of time, and this serves as a strong basis for developing and expanding the mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.”

During the meeting, the ministers touched upon a broad range of issues on the agenda, as well as several regional and international issues.

Edward Nalbandyan and Hoshyar Zebari recorded the dynamic implementation of practical agreements on expanding the Armenian-Iraqi cooperation in different spheres.

Minister Nalbandyan presented his Iraqi counterpart with Armenia’s and the international community’s efforts for a peaceful settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and highly appreciated Iraq’s balanced position on the issue.

Minister Zebari presented in detail the Iraqi government’s efforts aimed at strengthening stability and security in Iraq and preparing for the upcoming parliamentary elections in April.

The meeting was followed by a joint press conference.

Minister Nalbandyan also visited the Embassy of Armenia in Iraq where he had a meeting with representatives of Iraqi-Armenian community organizations, presented the main directions of Armenia’s foreign policy, the reforms taking place in Armenia, the steps being taken to reinforce Armenia-Diaspora relations and answered several questions concerning the gathered.

Local presses and presses in the region provide wide coverage of Minister Nalbandyan’s visit to Iraq, reports the RA MFA press office.