Armenian government ministry
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/MFA_of_Armenia_Logo.jpg/220px-MFA_of_Armenia_Logo.jpg) |
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Ministry_of_foreign_affairs_in_Yerevan.jpg/220px-Ministry_of_foreign_affairs_in_Yerevan.jpg) Ministry building in
Yerevan
.
|
|
Formed
| 1918
; 106 years ago
(
1918
)
|
---|
Jurisdiction
| Government of Armenia
|
---|
Headquarters
| 3 Vazgen Sargsyan Street, Government House N.2,
Yerevan
|
---|
Minister responsible
| |
---|
Website
| mfa
.am
|
---|
The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
(
MFA
) (
Armenian
:
????????? ??????? ??????? ??????????????
,
romanized
:
Hayastani artak’in gortseri nakhararut’yun
) is a state body of executive power, which elaborates and implements the
foreign policy
of the Government of
Armenia
and organizes and manages diplomatic services.
[1]
The MFA acts accordingly to the
Constitution
and legislation of Armenia.
[1]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinates the activities of the executive power bodies of the Republic in the international arena.
[1]
Since 2021,
Ararat Mirzoyan
has been the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.
Mission
[
edit
]
The activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are aimed at:
- strengthening of foreign security of Armenia,
- maintaining favorable external conditions for the development of Armenia,
- representing Armenian positions in the international area,
- protecting the interests of Armenia and its citizens abroad,
- deepening of involvement within international organizations and international processes,
- further enhancement of cooperation with friendly and partner countries,
- normalization of relations with those countries with which there are problems,
- further development and deepening of ties with Armenian communities abroad,
- international recognition of the
Armenian genocide
and the
Republic of Artsakh
,
- establishment of stability, cooperation, security and peace in the
Caucasus
region.
History
[
edit
]
Early Armenian diplomatic history
[
edit
]
Former building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia
In 1918, in parallel with the restoration of
Armenia's statehood
, Armenia gained international recognition and established diplomatic ties with several other states. Armenia established diplomatic relations with
Germany
,
Austria-Hungary
,
Bulgaria
,
Georgia
,
Azerbaijan
,
Turkey
,
Iran
, and other countries. Plenipotentiary representatives were appointed to the
United States
,
Bulgaria
,
Finland
,
Switzerland
,
Japan
, among other countries.
[2]
Meanwhile, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran opened diplomatic representations in Yerevan.
Soviet era
[
edit
]
After the establishment of Soviet rule in December 1920, the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs of the
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic
was founded. After the
Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic
(TSFSR) was founded in July 1922, the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs (PCFA) of the
Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic
(Armenian SSR) was eliminated, taking into consideration the fact that the general management of TSFSR member states’ foreign policy was carried out by the TSFSR Council. In addition, national foreign policy was determined by the
People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs
. In the final years of the
Second World War
, the Soviet leadership decided to expand the foreign policy functions of the
Union republics
. To prepare the necessary personnel, the Faculty of International Relations was established at the
Yerevan State University
(functioning from 1945 to 1952).
[2]
In the postwar years, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Armenian SSR operated under the guidance of the Council of Ministers of the Armenian SSR, the Soviet MFA and the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of Armenia
. Between 1975-1985, the MFA of the Armenian SSR did productive work on collecting information on developments in the
Armenian Diaspora
, on Armenian issues, and in the direction of preparing the decisions of republic's leadership and development the Political Armenology.
With the beginning of the
Karabakh movement
in 1988, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Armenian SSR was transferring international reactions of the events in
Nagorno-Karabakh
, to the
USSR
and to the leadership of the Armenian SSR.
The staff of the MFA of the Armenian SSR underwent significant pressure due to the devastating
1988 Armenian earthquake
, when it became necessary to deal with the issues of organizing huge humanitarian aid arriving from abroad, as well as with issues of political, diplomatic and consular support. During the Soviet era, especially after the 1988 earthquake, the leadership of the Armenian SSR several times asked the central government for greater involvement of representatives of the republic's MFA in Soviet foreign missions, especially in countries with large Armenian communities. Only in 1960, 82 diplomats, recommended by the Armenian SSR, worked at the Soviet Embassy in
France
.
[2]
Independence
[
edit
]
With the
proclamation of independence
of Armenia in 1991, the activities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic radically changed, taking into account the new status of Armenia in international relations. The structure of the Ministry and the quantity of staff were brought in line with the requirements of the foreign policy of an independent state. Its duties are enshrined in the Law on Consular Service.
[3]
A special body was created within the MFA to coordinate cooperation with the
Armenian Diaspora
at the state level, on the basis of which the Ministry of Diaspora was established in October 2008. The first assignment of diplomatic ranks was held in July 1992. Since 1996, the MFA of Armenia has been located at the
Republic Square
in Government House #2 (which was built in 1955 by architect Samvel Safarian). Between 1991-1996, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was located currently where the
Constitutional Court
is located. The Foreign Ministry has its own awards, with the Commemorative Medal of the Ministry being instituted in 2002, and in 2009, the Medal “80 years of
John Kirakosyan
” was created.
[2]
Structure
[
edit
]
Press service
[
edit
]
Press secretaries of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1991:
- Garnik Badalyan (1991-1992)
- Aram Safaryan (1993-1996)
- Arsen Gasparyan (1997-1999)
- Ara Papyan (1999-2000)
- Dzyunik Aghajanyan (2000-2003)
- Hamlet Gasparyan (2003-2006)
- Vladimir Karapetyan (2006-2008)
- Tigran Balayan (2008-2018)
- Anna Naghdalyan (since 2018)
Protocol service
[
edit
]
As the first department of the MFA in 1991, the Armenian State Protocol Service within the MFA was established in 1998, and later on, in 2002 was succeeded by the MFA “State Protocol Service” Agency, with the status of a separated subdivision of the Ministry. In the making of State Protocol great significance is given to the Decree of the President of the Republic of Armenia of March 16, 2002, which approved the “Basic Principles of the State Protocol of the Republic of Armenia.
[4]
It is divided into the Diplomatic Missions Division, the Diplomatic Corps Division and the Official Visits Division.
[5]
Diplomatic school
[
edit
]
Since 2010, a Diplomatic school operates within the MFA of the Republic of Armenia offices.
Diplomatic relations
[
edit
]
Foreign relations of Armenia
:
Diplomatic relations established
No diplomatic relations established
Diplomatic relations suspended by Armenia
Armenia has established diplomatic relations with 178 countries (as of November 2020). Armenia became a member of the
United Nations
in 1992, and is currently a member of over 70 international organizations including the
OSCE
,
CIS
,
CSTO
,
Council of Europe
,
EAEU
,
La Francophonie
, and the
BSEC
.
Diplomatic representations
[
edit
]
Since independence, Armenia has opened embassies and consulates in many countries, while permanent missions have been established to a number of international organizations. As of November 2020, there are 43 embassies, 10 consulate-generals, 4 consulates and consular agencies, 40 honorary consulates, and over 20 Permanent Missions accredited to various international organizations.
List of ministers
[
edit
]
Armenian SSR
[
edit
]
Republic of Armenia
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
Africa
| |
---|
Americas
| |
---|
Asia
| |
---|
Europe
| |
---|
Oceania
| |
---|
Former
| |
---|
|
---|
|
---|
Africa
| |
---|
Americas
| |
---|
Asia
| |
---|
Europe
| |
---|
Oceania
| |
---|
|
|
|
|
Foreign relations of Europe
|
---|
Sovereign states
| |
---|
States with limited
recognition
| |
---|
Dependencies and
other entities
| |
---|
Other entities
| |
---|