1 / 12

On April 3 within the framework of the official visit to the Republic of Cyprus the RA NA President Galust Sahakyan met with the Foreign Minister of Cyprus Ioannis Kasoulides. During the meeting the Minister thanked the Delegation of the RA National Assembly for visiting the Republic of Cyprus and assured that the friendly relations of the two countries coming from the centuries would further develop as a result of mutual visits. Minister Kasoulides in his speech has noted that Cyprus will not spare an effort in order the world will recognize the crime committed by Turkey. Talking about the Armenian Genocide the Minister has said that the two peoples have crucial commonality: both of them have suffered because of inhuman actions of Turkey.

Thanking for the warm reception, the RA National Assembly President has assured that a dialogue of high level exists between the two countries. He has noted that in the Armenian-Cypriot inter-state relations the legislative bodies are reserved a special role. The inter-parliamentary relations existing between Armenia and Cyprus distinguish by their continuous activation. The National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia expects that the cooperation between the committees in the two parliaments will develop with the same efficiency.

Speaking about the Nagorno Karabakh conflict Galust Sahakyan has noted: “Armenia and Cyprus have permanently backed each other in the issues of Nagorno Karabakh conflict and the Cyprus problem settlement. Every conflict has its peculiarity, but in terms of the means of its settlement the common approach is the same: non-use of force, exclusively through peaceful means, based on the principles and norms of international law.

The Head of the RA Parliament once again has documented that Armenia is against war, but if necessary, is ready for that. Talking about the provocative actions of Azerbaijan, Galust Sahakyan has touched upon the wide-scale military operations fulfilled last year and has stated that during those days in Armenia the nation and the army were united around one idea. He has also mentioned that Azerbaijan realized quite well its disastrous defeat in the possible war.

The Delegation led by the RA National Assembly comprising the NA Vice President Eduard Sharmazanov, deputies Vahram Baghdasaryan, Armen Mkhitaryan, Mikayel Manukyan and Lyudmila Sargsyan, met with the Co-Chair and members of the Inter-parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus. During the meeting the cooperation and the ways of further developing the efficiency of joint programmes were discussed.

Chrysostomos II, Archbishop of Nova Justiniana and All Cyprus, also received the Delegation of the RA National Assembly. They also visited the Byzantium Museum, where Galust Sahakyan left a note in the Book of Honourable Guests of the Museum.

The official visit led by the RA NA President Galust Sahakyan to the Republic of Cyprus ended. The Delegation will be back to Yerevan on April 5.