20:41,

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 26, ARMENPRESS.  On February 26, in Geneva, on the sidelines of the high-level session of the UN Human Rights Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a meeting with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the foreign ministry said.

The interlocutors discussed a number of issues on cooperation within the framework of the UN Human Rights system.

The steps and achievements taken towards the protection of human rights and strengthening the rule of law in Armenia were touched upon, thanks to which Armenia, according to the indexes of various authoritative international bodies, rose to leading positions in the region.

Touching upon the challenges in protection of human rights in different parts of the world, the importance of effective use of existing tools was emphasized, since the opposite leads to failure in preventing the most serious violations and the repetition of tragic outcomes.

Touching upon the ethnic cleansing carried out by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, Minister Mirzoyan briefed his counterpart on the steps taken to address the needs and rights of the Armenian population forcibly displaced from their homeland.

During the meeting, Ararat Mirzoyan and Volker Türk also exchanged views on the latest developments in the South Caucasus. Minister Mirzoyan briefed on the approaches of Armenia to key issues in the normalization process of Armenia-Azerbaijan relations, based on unequivocal respect for the principles of territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, and sovereignty. Minister Mirzoyan stressed that with a clear commitment to these principles, as well as refraining from aggressive rhetoric and from steps aimed at escalating the situation on the ground, it will be possible to move forward in the peace process.