United States expresses willingness to continue cooperation with Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs

YEREVAN, MAY 17, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan has met with James Applegate, U.S. Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) of the U.S. Department of State.

Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the United States of America in Yerevan, Armenia Chip Laitinen and Alexis Haftvani, Director of the U.S. Embassy Yerevan's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement (INL) also attended the meeting.

Ghazaryan praised the strong and effective friendly cooperation between Armenia and the United States, which has a history of 30 years and is based on common values of democracy, human rights and rule of law, the Ministry of Internal Affairs said in a readout.

Minister Ghazaryan presented the course of reforms of the ministry and thanked the U.S. federal government for its contribution to the launch of the the police patrol service, technical assistance and high-quality expert support in training the officers. He emphasized the cooperation in INL in this direction.

Ghazaryan affirmed readiness to complete the reforms and enable to have a respected, professional, technically-equipped police force with integrity capable of withstanding modern challenges, which will in turn ensure the proper functioning of the internal affairs ministry.

Applegate noted the positive ongoing reforms in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and expressed readiness to continue cooperation.

He attached importance to training of officers and partnership with the civil society.

Issues related to officer recruiting in the provinces, encouraging the involvement of women in the force, the equipment and weapons, certification and training of officers were also discussed.