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Initiated by European Friends of Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh Foreign Minister Karen Mirzoyan visited the Basque Country and met with high officials throughout the region, the press service of EuFoA reports.

On Thursday, Mr Mirzoyan met with the Gipuzkoa Province President Martin Garitano in San Sebastian to discuss further cooperation between Nagorno-Karabakh and the Basque Country.

During the statements of both officials, the Gipuzkoa President, on behalf of the government of Gipuzkoa, recognized the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

“The suffering of these people has to end and they deserve a free and independent country that guarantees their future as a state, and the full respect of their culture and language,” Mr Garitano said.

Mr Mirzoyan also took the time to speak to the human rights and international cooperation departments of Gipuzkoa’s government.

He additionally met with representatives of a hydroelectric engineering company as well as an agricultural company.

The province of Gipuzkoa is one of the three provinces of the Basque Country with San Sebastian as the capital. Although Gipuzkoa is the smallest province in Spain, it has over 700 000 inhabitants, a third of the Basque population. The economy of the province is mostly structured around three pillars: trade, metallurgy and tourism. With an annual GDP per capita of about 32 000 Euros, Gipuzkoa tops the EU average by 28%.

This is the first time a European territory at sub-state level has recognized Nagorno-Karabakh, following the path of several US States as well as Australia’s New South Wales.