It is a great honour for me to visit Riyadh as the President of Armenia to hail a new page in our relations. Interview of the President of the Republic of Armenia Armen Sarkissian to Saudi Arab News

On October 26 of this year, President Armen Sarkissian paid the first visit in the history of newly independent Armenia to Saudi Arabia, one of the key countries of the Arab-Islamic world.

On December 18, Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, the leading English-language Middle East daily based in Saudi Arabia, arrived in Armenia.

Arab News published today an exclusive interview with President Armen Sarkissian. Along with the videos, they published Faisal Abbas's article, summarizing the interview, in which the author particularly mentions: "Armen Sarkissian made history in October when he became the first Armenian president to visit Saudi Arabia since the independence of his country in 1991. Although the two countries have never been mutually hostile, neither have they had diplomatic relations since Riyadh supported Azerbaijan’s position during the Karabakh conflict and the first Karabakh war in 1988-1994."

Below is the translation of the interview related to Armenia-Saudi Arabia relations.

Faisal Abbas: This is the first visit by the President of Armenia since independence. Can you tell us some details about how the visit took place, what are the results, and most importantly, when can we expect the establishment of diplomatic relations?

President Sarkissian: For more than thirty years of our independence, we have not had diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an important, influential and promising country. Armenia, being a small country, was the first to adopt Christianity. Even during these thirty years, Armenians have gone to Saudi Arabia, worked there, and many Armenians have achieved success. I think there are no good reasons not to have a relationship.

One of my first goals upon becoming president was to establish diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia. I received a good response to all this from the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman. We started communicating, writing letters to each other about religious, national or state events. They had a very respectable and profound meaning. Thus, special relations gradually began, and we began to talk on the possibility of establishing diplomatic relations. The culmination of that communication was my visit to the capital Riyadh.

My short but substantive discussions with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman were special. First, they referred to the mutual respect between the states and our peoples, as well as to the respectful attitude towards each other. Next, we talked on our diplomatic relations. In fact, we both agreed that my visit marked the beginning of our diplomatic relations. I invited the State Minister and the Crown Prince to visit Armenia. We have agreed that we are on the way to establishing diplomatic relations, opening embassies, sending our ambassadors to each other's countries.

The next most important part of our discussions was the future, and I was happy to find His Royal Highness focused on the future of his country, the region, the Gulf, and the world. He outlined his ambitions to develop a new Saudi economy, from tourism to new technologies. He also attaches great importance to high technologies, which, I think, is a necessity for everyone, especially for a country like Armenia. Armenia, unlike Saudi Arabia, is not rich in natural resources such as oil and gas. Some Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, or Qatar, are investing heavily in the development of education, science, and technologies. And that is the correct approach because that is the future of humanity, be it artificial intelligence, mathematical modelling, or biotechnologies.

I have met and communicated with many people. The most important for me were the discussions I had with His Majesty. As the leader of the country, he leads his people, the country in the right direction. We had discussions with the Minister of State in the same way. I am completely satisfied with what I saw. We talked on the future, the future of our two peoples, which must be new, with new technologies and behaviours. Both sides must work hard to educate our peoples as well. The Armenian Diaspora is much more familiar with Saudi Arabia, as many of them, being Americans, Lebanese, etc., visited and did business in Saudi Arabia. There are some stereotypes in Armenia at the local level; the same can be said about Saudi Arabia, where there may be opinions about Armenia, which have nothing to do with the reality. Opening the doors, not only establishing diplomatic, but also cultural, economic relations and promoting tourism will help to get to know each other better. We have a lot to show.