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On April 10 the RA NA President Hovik Abrahamyan received members of the House of Commons of the Parliament of Canada, Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Parliamentary Secretary on Multiculturalism Chungsen Leung. The NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov was attending the meeting.

Welcoming the guests the NA President has noted with joy that the Armenian-Canadian relations steadily develop, and the two countries have good traditions of friendship and cooperation. Hovik Abrahamyan has stressed the importance of the development of inter-parliamentary relations, which is an additional impetus in the enlargement of cooperation in the political, cultural, educational and trade-economic spheres.

Thanking for the warm reception Mr Obhrai has noted that they are impressed of the brilliantly organized solemn ceremony of assuming the Office of the RA President. He has underlined that Canada attaches great importance to the enlargement of cooperation with Armenia in different directions, expressing hope that his visit will boost the bilateral cooperation, as he is sure that there are numerous spheres for developing the bilateral relations. During the meeting the NA President has expressed concern that the Chairman of Canada-Azerbaijan Friendship Group of the House of Commons of the Canadian Parliament Barry Devolin is intending to submit for debate to the House of Commons of Canada biased information on Khojalu cases. “This is not the first case when the Azerbaijani Embassy, functioning in different countries, deliberately disorientates society, presenting distorting information on various events,” Hovik Abrahamyan said. Highly appreciating the balanced and neutral stance of Canada on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, The Head of the Parliament has expressed hope that the House of Commons of the Canada will be deprived of making a subject of debate in the parliament the Azerbaijanis’ given disinformation. Mr. Obhrai has assured the NA President that they will certainly take into consideration Hovik Abrahamyan’s concern and has stressed that the stance of the Canadian authorities on the settlement of the Karabakh problem is unchangeable.

In the course of the meeting other issues of bilateral interest were discussed.