On May 24 the delegation led by the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov being on a working visit in Japan, composed of the Head of Armenia-Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group Samvel Farmanyan and the member of the delegation Alexander Arzumanyan in Tokyo took part in the closing ceremony of the event Armenian Cultural Week. The RA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Japan Hrant Poghosyan accompanied the parliamentary delegation. At the event the NA Deputy Speaker delivered a speech, particularly noting:
“We would like to express our special satisfaction with the event Armenian Cultural Week, which was held on May 19-24 in Tokyo within the framework of the Armenian Genocide Centennial. It is an unprecedented positive step in the development of the Armenian-Japanese cultural relations.
I should note with regret that we, Armenians, as bearers of millennia-old cultural heritage, even in the 21st century witness the destruction of the Armenian millennia-old cultural heritage by the barbarians, which is not simply possible to call other way, than cultural genocide. The vivid evidence of this is the destruction of the cemetery with centuries-old thousands of unique cross stones of Jugha in Nakhijevan, which was resided by the Armenians before and afterwards they were depopulated. It reveals the real face of Azerbaijan, as well as the destruction of dozens of Armenian monuments in the territory of present Turkey and the explosion of the Deir ez-Zor Surb Nahatakats/Saint Martyrs’ Armenian Church by the terrorists several months ago. We should bring together our efforts for completely excluding such atrocities in future.”