Armenia | Palestine |
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Armenian-Palestinian relations refers to relations between Armenia and Palestine. Armenia supports Palestinian statehood. [1] Armenia is an observer state of the Arab League in which Palestine is a full member. The former President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has stated that Armenia supported the Palestinian people's self determination in an interview with Al Mayadeen. [2] President of Palestine Mahmoud Abbas has also stated that he supported the expansion of Armenia and called Armenians a "great ally of Palestine". [3] On 21 June 2024, the Armenian government recognized the State of Palestine. [4]
There are currently 4,500 Armenians living in Palestine. In 1948, the total Armenian population in Palestine was 15,000. [5] Many Armenians have migrated in recent decades due to conflict and economic struggle, with thousands repatriating to Soviet Armenia or migrating to other countries during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. [6] The presence of Armenians in the Armenian Quarter of Jerusalem goes back to the 4th century AD with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem being established since 638 AD. [7]
Trade between Armenia and Palestine has risen in recent years. Exports from Palestine to Armenia include packaged medicaments and exports from Armenia to Palestine include fruit juice and chocolate. [8]
On 20 June 2011, Fatah representative Nabil Shaath met with Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan to enlist the support of Armenia in the then-upcoming application by Palestine for membership in the United Nations. [9] Afterwards, Shaath announced that he had been informed by a number of countries that they would recognize Palestine in the following weeks, and that he expected Armenia to be the first of these. [10] However, the Armenian government did not release any statement regarding the meeting. The situation in Palestine was seen as analogous by the Armenian government to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, and that any recognition of a Palestinian state by Armenia would set a precedent for the right to self-determination in that region. [11] On similar situations, President Serzh Sargsyan previously stated, "Having the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Armenia can not recognize another entity in the same situation as long as it has not recognized the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic". [12]
In January 2020, Armenian President Armen Sarkissian visited Bethlehem and met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. [13]
In November 2021, the Armenian foreign minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with his Palestinian counterpart in Paris. [14]
On 27 October 2023, Armenia was one of 121 countries to vote in favor of a General Assembly resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire to the fighting between Israel and Gaza. [15]
On 21 June 2024, the Armenian government recognized the State of Palestine in accordance with the foregoing and in line with their dedication to international law, equality, sovereignty, and the peaceful coexistence of peoples. [16]
On 27 September 2024, on the fringes of the UN General Assembly's high-level session in New York, Prime Minister of the State of Palestine Mohammad Mustafa and Armenia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Ararat Mirzoyan signed a joint communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic relations between their two nations. [17]
Outside of governmental relations, many Armenians and Palestinians look to each other in solidarity due to Israeli foreign policy and mistreatment. [18] For many years, anti-Armenian sentiment (often mixed with anti-Christian sentiment) was growing in Israel, coinciding with a general rise of Zionist nationalism. This is seen in a report done in 2009, claiming that Armenians were often spat on by Haredi and Orthodox Jews. [19] In 2023, anti-Christian hatred, alongside anti-Palestinian hatred, grew to never-before-seen levels. [20] A long standing issue between Armenia and Israel that invokes further solidarity is Israel's longstanding issue with the Armenian genocide. Its government position has avoided recognition so as to not hurt its relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Similarly, Israel supplying weapons to Azerbaijan has soured relations between both countries, especially due to the 2023 exodus of Nagorno-Karabakh Armenians.
Vazgen Zaveni Sargsyan was an Armenian military commander and politician. He was the first Defence Minister of Armenia from 1991 to 1992 and then from 1995 to 1999. He served as Armenia's Prime Minister from 11 June 1999 until his assassination on 27 October of that year. He rose to prominence during the mass movement for the unification of Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia in the late 1980s and led Armenian volunteer groups during the early clashes with Azerbaijani forces. Appointed defence minister by President Levon Ter-Petrosyan soon after Armenia's independence from the Soviet Union in late 1991, Sargsyan became the most prominent commander of Armenian forces during the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. In different positions, he regulated the military operations in the war area until 1994, when a ceasefire was reached ending the war with Armenian forces controlling almost all of Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding districts.
Robert Sedraki Kocharyan is an Armenian politician. He served as the President of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic from 1994 to 1997 and Prime Minister of Nagorno-Karabakh from 1992 to 1994. He served as the second President of Armenia between 1998 and 2008 and as Prime Minister of Armenia from 1997 to 1998.
Serzh Azati Sargsyan is an Armenian politician who served as the third President of Armenia from 2008 to 2018, and twice as the Prime Minister of Armenia from 2007 to 2008 and again from 17 to 23 April 2018, when he was forced to resign in the 2018 Armenian revolution.
The Republic of Artsakh was a republic with limited recognition in the South Caucasus region. The Republic of Artsakh controlled most of the territory of the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast. It was recognized only by three other non-UN member states, Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria. The rest of the international community recognized Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan. In November 2012, a member of Uruguay's foreign relations committee stated that his country could recognize Nagorno-Karabakh's independence. In 2012, Armenia and Tuvalu established diplomatic relations, which led to speculation of possible recognition of Artsakh by Tuvalu. In October 2012, the Australian state of New South Wales recognized Nagorno-Karabakh. In September 2014, the Basque Parliament in Spain adopted a motion supporting Artsakh's right to self-determination and in November 2014, the Parliament of Navarre, also in Spain, issued a statement supporting Artsakh's inclusion in taking part in settlement negotiations.
United Armenia, also known as Greater Armenia or Great Armenia, is an Armenian ethno-nationalist irredentist concept referring to areas within the traditional Armenian homeland—the Armenian Highland—which are currently or have historically been mostly populated by Armenians. The idea of what Armenians see as unification of their historical lands was prevalent throughout the 20th century and has been advocated by individuals, various organizations and institutions, including the nationalist parties Armenian Revolutionary Federation and Heritage, the ASALA and others.
A bilateral relationship exists between Armenia and Israel. From 1993 to 2007, Armenia was served by the Embassy of Israel in Georgia. In 1996, Tsolak Momjian was appointed the honorary consul of Armenia in Jerusalem. Eleven years later, the residence of the Embassy of Israel in Armenia was moved to Jerusalem. In October 2010, Shmuel Meirom was appointed the Israeli ambassador to Armenia. Armen Melkonian was appointed the Armenian ambassador to Israel in 2012, with a residence in Cairo. In October of that year, Melkonian presented his credentials to Israeli President Shimon Peres. On 21 September 2019 Armenia announced that it would be opening an embassy in Israel. Despite generally cordial ties between the two, relations soured after Armenia withdrew its ambassador to Israel due to Israeli arms supply to Armenia's enemy, Azerbaijan, in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Foreign relations exist between Armenia and Bulgaria. Both countries are full members of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and the Council of Europe. Both nations maintain embassies in their respective capitals.
Bilateral relations exist between Armenia and Serbia. Diplomatic relations between Armenia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were established on 14 January 1993; Serbia is the legal successor to this country. Both countries are represented through their respective embassies and both have established honorary consulates, which serve as diplomatic representatives between the two countries.
Armenian–Syrian relations are foreign relations between Armenia and Syria. Armenia has an embassy in Damascus and a consulate general in Aleppo. In 1997, Syria opened an embassy in Yerevan. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa visited Armenia in March 1992.
Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia was enacted on Sunday, 17 February 2008 by a unanimous vote of the Assembly of Kosovo. All 11 representatives of the Serb minority boycotted the proceedings. International reaction was mixed, and the world community continues to be divided on the issue of the international recognition of Kosovo. Armenia's reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence has been one of non-recognition, mainly due to concerns about the implications for its own territory claims.
The political status of Nagorno-Karabakh remained unresolved from its declaration of independence on 10 December 1991 to its September 2023 collapse. During Soviet times, it had been an ethnic Armenian autonomous oblast of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a conflict arose between local Armenians who sought to have Nagorno-Karabakh join Armenia and local Azerbaijanis who opposed this.
As of June 2024, the State of Palestine is recognized as a sovereign state by 146 of the 193 member states of the United Nations, or just over 75% of all UN members. It has been a non-member observer state of the United Nations General Assembly since November 2012. This limited status is largely due to the fact that the United States, a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power, has consistently used its veto or threatened to do so to block Palestine's full UN membership.
Civil Contract is a centrist political party in Armenia. It has been the ruling party of Armenia since the 2018 Armenian parliamentary election, which occurred following the 2018 Armenian Revolution that brought the party's founder, Nikol Pashinyan, to power as prime minister.
The following lists events that happened during 2014 in Armenia.
Karen Mirzoyan is a diplomat of Armenia and previously of the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh. From September 2012 until September 2017 he served as the Republic's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Ararat Samveli Mirzoyan is an Armenian politician currently serving as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia. Before this, he served as President of the National Assembly of Armenia from January 2019 to August 2021.
The relations between the Republic of Azerbaijan and the State of Palestine were established in 1992 with both nations recognizing each other. Palestine has an embassy in Baku, while Azerbaijan does not have an embassy in Palestine.
Palestine–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Palestine has an embassy in Madrid. Spain has a consulate general in East Jerusalem that serves the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem.
The following is list of the official reactions to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.
An OSCE Needs Assessment Team in Armenia was deployed by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the territory of Armenia between 21 and 27 October 2022 following the Armenia–Azerbaijan border crisis.