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Armenians are proud of their small country, which has a rich culture and history, and love to point out the many similarities between Israel and Armenia. Another topic they never seem to tire of discussing is the Armenian Genocide, and how many countries have yet to recognize it as a fact of history, says The Jerusalem Post in an article titled "Are Israeli-Armenian relations warming up?"

Israel and Armenia have had diplomatic relations since 1992. The Armenian people and the Jewish people share a number of common attributes. Both have relatively small numbers, are dispersed in a diaspora around the world, have long-standing aspirations to be an independent nation-state, are surrounded by hostile Muslim countries, and have an influential lobby in the US. Both have considerable experience dealing with national traumas.

Meantime, the artice says, relations between Israel and Armenia are underdeveloped, due to the latter’s conflicts with Turkey and Azerbaijan, both of which have highly developed relationships with Israel.

“Armenia has so much to offer Israel in the fields of agriculture, science, technology, education and innovation – and especially in the area of early childhood education,” says Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan. “We’ve developed a number of mobile apps that have attracted millions of users. I plan on traveling to Israel myself in the near future to promote joint ventures.”

Commenting on the question over the cancellation of the Knesset vote to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Mnatsakanyan said The vote wasn’t just about recognizing the Armenian Genocide. It was about taking a moral stance. 1.5 million of our people were murdered. My ancestors are genocide survivors who found a refuge in Tbilisi. Many of my relatives were killed in the genocide. But we do not feel like victims. We are victors because we were not supposed to be on the surface of this earth. I would not say that we were not disappointed that the vote didn’t take place in the end. We know that this issue has become a trading chip in your relations with Turkey and it is very unfortunate.”

Is there military cooperation between the two countries?

“Armenia is extremely concerned about its security issues, especially with respect to Nagorno-Karabakh (an enclave inside Azerbaijan, which has unilaterally declared its disengagement from the secular Muslim country. Armenia, which has a Christian majority, has been in conflict with its Muslim Azeri neighbors for many years-JP.) People there are in danger. It is well-known, that Israel sold weapons to Azerbaijan. That doesn’t mean that we would not like to develop realtions with Israel, including in the military field," the Armenian official said, also touchinh upon Armenia's  extremely long history with Iran and stressing, "...it’s essential for us that our relationship with one country does not jeopardize our connections with others.”

In response to the question whether he is concerned by the fact that Israel and Armenia do not have embassies in each other’s country, Mnatsakanyan said: “I’m optimistic that this will happen soon. We’d be more than happy to upgrade our relations with Israel.”

When asked whether Armenia would agree to open an embassy in Jerusalem, he noted: "We understand the delicate nature of this controversy, and we’ll make an effort to make the move a positive one.”