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On February 16 at the sitting of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations moderated by Artak Zakaryan the draft statement “On Considering a Grave Crime Directed against Humanity the Genocide Policy Perpetrated towards the Greeks, Assyrians, Yezids and Other Religious and National Minorities in the Ottoman Empire and Condemning it” authored by the member of the NA Heritage faction Zaruhi Postanjyan was debated.

The author has noted that in the Ottoman Empire a genocide policy has been pursued towards the national and religious minorities, the Greeks, the Assyrians and also the Yezids. In his speech the deputy Samvel Farmanyan has mentioned that the historical facts presented in the draft statement are disputable and not reliable.

As a result of detailed and hot debates, the draft statement has not been endorsed on substantiation of inappropriate wordings available in it.

The Committee also debated the draft statement “On Condemning the Genocide of the Greeks and Assyrians Perpetrated by Ottoman Turkey in 1914-1923” authored by the NA deputies Eduard Sharmazanov, Armen Rustamyan, Hovhannes Sahakyan, Edmon Marukyan, Arpine Hovhannisyan, Tevan Poghosyan, Gurgen Arsenyan, Heghine Bisharyan, Alexander Arzumanyan, Vahram Baghdasaryan, Hermine Naghdalyan, Margarit Yesayan, Lyudmila Sargsyan.

The key speaker the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov has informed that the co-authors of the statement, led by the Resolution of December 11, 1946 of the UN General Assembly, the UN Conventions “On the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” of 9 December 1948, “ Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity” of 26 November 1968 as well as by the principles and provisions in accordance with the international acts on human rights, recording the friendly relations coming from the depth of the centuries of the Armenians, Greek and Assyrian Peoples, announces that he condemns the genocide perpetrated towards the Greeks and Assyrians by Ottoman Turkey in 1914-1923.

In their speeches the deputies have touched upon the importance of the draft law, underlining their historical and political substantiations.

The draft statement was endorsed and will be included in the draft laws of the agendas of the seventh session of the NA fifth convocation and the upcoming four-day sittings.