Armenia’s Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Gabriel Ghazaryan says he supports the participation of Armenian athletes in the 2015 European Games to be held in Baku this June.

Ghazaryan said it might be detrimental not only to career prospects of the athletes if they didn’t participate, but to the reputation of Armenia in the international sports arena.

Baku 2015 will be the inaugural edition of the European Games, an international multi-sport event for athletes representing the National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of Europe.