The decision to award the title of honorary professor of YSU RA Minister of Foreign Affairs was made by the Academic Council at the last session and today YSU Rector Aram Simonyan in the presence of members of the Academic Council, lecturers and students handed it to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan.

“YSU has established good relations with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, especially with Mr. Nalbandyan. Minister often holds meetings with YSU lecturers and students. The title of Honorary Professor is awarded right for his close cooperation with the university,” - said YSU Rector Aram Simonyan.

Mr. Nalbandyan expressed words of gratitude. He noted that this title is also the assessment of his activities in the field of diplomacy: “It is no accident that the university has become a source of manpower for our diplomatic school. Most of its students are the graduates of the Faculty of International Relations, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State University and other faculties, many of whom have already joined the ranks of our diplomats.”

It should be noted that up now the title of YSU Honorary Professor was awarded the former rector of the Russian Peoples’ Friendship University Vladimir Filippov, the former rector of the University of Astana Abdrayim Zharelkasnul and former Professor of the Open University of Berlin, specialist in Armenian Studies Tessa Hofmann.

Mr. Minister also delivered a short lecture on the peculiarities and complexities of the diplomatic service and answered questions from the audience.

Mr. Nalbandyan briefly spoke about the history of the Armenian diplomatic service after the restoration of the independence and pointed out the qualitative changes in the diplomatic service of the republic.

The second part of the meeting was held in question-answer format. The participants were mainly interested in the effects of the strained Russian-Turkish relations on Armenia, on the prospects of development of the Armenian-Iranian relations after the lifting of sanctions, the visit of the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini to Armenia.