Armenia is building a multi-vector security system, taking into consideration the existing challenges, Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan said at NATO’s Rose Roth seminar in Yerevan.

Besides the traditional threats, the Minister pointed to the rapidly aggravating challenges, such as trans-national terrorism and radicalism, which is “knocking the door of the South Caucasus.”

“In a short period of time the so-called Islamic State managed to expand the area under its control and continues to stretch in different directions,  automatically challenging the South Caucasus, as two of the latter’s neighbors – Turkey and Iran – are in some way involved in the developments around ISIS,” the Defense Minister said.

“Being a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, Armenia actively cooperates with NATO and its member states and views the relations with NATO as an indispensible part of its security system,” Minister Ohanyan said.

The Defense Minister noted that “Armenia is the only CSTO member state and the only strategic ally of Russia, which has been actively involved in NATO-led peacekeeping missions.

Speaking about NATO’s role in ensuring security in the region, Minister Ohanyan said “being the guarantor of security in the Euro-Atlantic area, NATO should play a distinct role in defending the South Caucasus from outer challenges and support the negotiations on conflict settlement in different formats.”

“NATO’s involvement in the region should be targeted against challenges  common for all countries of the region, irrespective of the collective security systems they have chosen to join,” he added.