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On May 18 in the Parliament of the Republic of Greece the Deputy Speaker of the RA National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov being in Athens on an official visit had a private talk with the Speaker of the Parliament Zoi Konstantopoulou.

Both sides have recorded with satisfaction that the relations between the two countries are in stable progress, the further development of the inter-parliamentary ties and the activities of the Parliamentary Friendship Groups have been highlighted.

The NA Deputy Speaker has noted that the inter-parliamentary ties serve as an important component of the inter-state relations, and the activation of the contacts between the parliaments in the bilateral, as well as multi-lateral formats promotes the strengthening of mutual understanding and mutual trust. He has emphasized the necessity of supporting each other in the Parliamentary Assemblies.

After the private talk the NA Deputy Speaker and the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament had a joint press conference.

At the press conference the NA Deputy Speaker expressed his gratitude to the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament for taking part in the Global Forum “Against the Crime of Genocide” held in Yerevan on 22-23 April and delivering a speech there.

He has informed Zoi Konstantopoulou that in the near future the RA National Assembly will set up a Commission “The Parliaments against Genocides.” The NA Deputy Speaker proposed the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament also to form similar Commission in the Parliament of Greece, noting that in the near future the National Assembly of Armenia will also appeal to the parliaments of other countries.

Eduard Sharmazanov underlined that we should struggle for democracy, protection of human rights and peoples’ centuries-old friendship, against war, barbarity and genocide.

Touching upon the settlement process of the NK conflict Eduard Sharmazanov highly assessed the balanced position of Greece over the problem. He has underlined that Armenia is for exclusively peaceful settlement of the conflict. The NA Deputy Speaker considered inadmissible and condemnable any attempt of solving the conflict through military means, noting that there is no alternative of execution of the peoples’ right to self-determination. The Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament in her turn has reaffirmed that Greece is for exclusively peaceful settlement of the NK conflict.

Zoi Konstantopoulou expressed her gratitude to the Armenian Parliament and particularly the NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov for the statement condemning the genocide of the Greeks and Assyrians in Ottoman Turkey unanimously adopted by the National Assembly of Armenia on March 24. She has underscored that the Hellenic Parliament is next to Armenia in the struggle for international recognition and condemnation of genocides.