On 20 December Armenia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanyan participated at the United Nations Security Council open debate on “Complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security”. At the opening of the debate the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres underlined the importance of countering terrorism, promoting the development agenda, protecting human rights, and the role of women in conflict prevention and resolution.
In his statement Ambassador Mnatsakanyan underlined the importance of early prevention of conflicts and countering hatred, intolerance and discrimination. He stressed that: “The irresponsibility of flaring hate speech, intolerance, xenophobia, racial and ethnic profiling, glorification of hate crimes, especially led and encouraged by political leaders within a state should be a concern to the entire international community and serve a clear early warning sign of potential conflict and atrocity crimes.”
Referring to the role of regional organisations in conflict resolution, Ambassador Mnatsakanyan noted Armenia’s appreciation of the support of the international community, of the United Nations and of the Secretary General rendered to the OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairmanship in the peaceful resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Recalling the high level meetings of 16 October and 6 December at the level of Presidents and Foreign Ministers and the respective statements in this regard, he reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to negotiations for the exclusively peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict within the internationally agreed format of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship and based on the agreed basic principles and main elements presented as an integrated whole.
In his comments on the threat of terrorism, Armenia’s Permanent Representative recalled the atrocities, perpetrated bythe Islamic State, Al Qaeda and associated groups against Yazidis, Christians and other ethnic and religious minorities and groups, including the indiscriminate attacks and forced displacement of the ethnic Armenian populations of the Syrian cities of Kessab and Deir-ez-Zor. He also noted that Armenia had been continually providing humanitarian aid to the Syrian population to alleviate their suffering and hardships and had sheltered around 22,000 refugees from Syria.
Ambassador Mnatsakanyan recalled the participation of Armenian peacekeepers in UN peace operations in Lebanon and Mali. He also noted that Armenia steadily develops its peacekeeping capabilities in accordance with its pledge made by President Serzh Sargsyan at the 2015 World Leaders’ Summit on UN Peacekeeping.
