Spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Armenia Anna Naghdalyan has commented on the reaction of the U.S. Department of State over deployment of Armenian humanitarian mission in Syria.
“We have acknowledged the US State Department’s statement on the deployment of the Armenian Humanitarian Mission in Syria. It’s a long time Armenia and the USA make joint efforts to respond to the humanitarian disaster in Syria that is accompanied by a major crisis of refugees and deported people.
We reiterate that during the entire process of the Syrian conflict the world-spread Armenian people followed the fates of the civilian people, minorities, including the Armenian community in Syria with great concern. The Armenian public opinion displayed deep concern and compassion towards the sufferings of the civilian people and the demolition of the country. This is a country that had a key contribution to the survival of the Armenian people who escaped the genocide. General Consul of Armenia in Aleppo worked non-stop during the entire Syrian crisis. Armenia has granted asylum to over 22 thousand Syrian refugees and has provided 4 air cargos of humanitarian aid to the Syrian people. Following the establishment of relative tranquility and security Armenia plans to continue its hummanitarian mission, including by providing doctors and specialists for humanitarian demining aimed at supporting the improvment of the living conditions of the war-suffered civilian population of Aleppo. The Armenian mission has exclusively hummanitarian nature, is guided by the international humanitarian law and will coordinate its activities with the institutions and international partners offering humanitarian aid on site.
We share the concerns of the international community about the situation of the ethnic and religious minorities in the Middle East and highlight the continuity of humanitarian aid provided to Syria”.
On February 13, the media published a statement on behalf of the US Embassy in Armenia, in which the US State Department expressed its position on the Armenian humanitarian mission in Syria.