A delegation led by Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan touched down in Beirut today and was welcomed at the presidential palace by Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

Pashinyan thanked Aoun for his warm reception and hoped that relations between the two countries, based on centuries of linkages, would develop further.

Pashinyan noted, according to a government press release, that Lebanon is the only country in the region to have officially recognized the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

The acting prime minister said that Armenia is ready to support a recent initiative to turn  Lebanon into a center of dialog between different cultures, religions and races.

“We are certain that the efforts and combined experience of Lebanon, designed to facilitate  coexistence between various religions and nationalities in relative harmony, can serve as a role not only for countries but entire regions,” Pashinyan said, adding that the initiative would be of great interest to students in Armenia.

Aoun first thanked Pashinyan and his government for organizing the recent 17^th Francophonie Summit in Yerevan, and then went onto say that Armenians in Lebanon have made great contributions in the economic, social, cultural, educational and sports sectors, and have served as bridge-builders between the two countries.

Aoun also thanked Pashinyan for continuing to participate in the UN’s UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) mission in the south of Lebanon.