Armenia is planning for Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan to visit earthquake-hit Syria soon pending Damascus' green light, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday
YEREVAN (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th February, 2023) Armenia is planning for Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan to visit earthquake-hit Syria soon pending Damascus' green light, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Thursday.
Mirzoyan went to earthquake-hit Turkey on Wednesday, despite the two countries lacking diplomatic relations.
"We have planned and are planning a visit of the foreign minister to Syria as well. And if our Syrian partners do not mind, we will organize a visit in the near future as well," Pashinyan said at a government session.
He said High Commissioner for Diaspora Affairs Zareh Sinanyan should also visit Syria.
"Armenia was one of the first (countries) to send humanitarian aid to Syria," Pashinyan added.
Before the war in Syria, the Armenian community in the Arab country numbered about 110,000 people and was one of the largest minorities. Syrian Armenians mainly lived in the cities of Aleppo, Damascus, Latakia, Kessab and Qamishli. According to some estimates over 90,000 Armenians left Syria after the crisis began. According to the Armenian Foreign Ministry, the country has given asylum to more than 22,000 Syrian citizens.
On February 6, parts of Turkey and Syria were hit by a series of powerful earthquakes and aftershocks. The death toll from the devastating earthquakes in Turkey exceeded 36,000. The Syrian Health Ministry said late Tuesday that the final death toll from the earthquake had reached 1,414 people. However, this data does not include information on non-government controlled territories. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has estimated the total number of deaths from earthquake in Syria at 8,500.
