On May 26 the delegation led by the RA NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov being in Tokyo on a working visit had a meeting with the members of Japan-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship League. At the meeting issues regarding the Armenian-Japanese inter-parliamentary relations were discussed, the necessity of mutual visits for the activation of the dialogue and the drafting of the programs of bilateral interest were highlighted.
The NA Deputy Speaker Eduard Sharmazanov awarded the Head of Japan-Armenia Parliamentary Friendship League Seishiro Eto, the Deputy Head of the Friendship League Takeaki Matsumoto and the member of the Group, the State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan Minoru Kiuchi the RA NA Speaker’s memorial medals for promoting the strengthening and deepening of the Armenian-Japanese ties.
On the same day the Armenian Delegation had also a meeting with the Ambassador Akira Muto, Special Representative for Caucasus of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The interlocutors touched upon the inner-political developments of Armenia and Japan, the perspectives of the expansion of the bilateral trade-economic ties and the issues regarding the rapprochement of the cooperation in the international organizations. The sides also exchanged thoughts over the regional and international problems.
Upon the Ambassador Akira Muto’s request, the Armenian side touched upon the Armenian-Turkish relations and the NK conflict. The Head of the Armenian Delegation deemed condemnable the illegal blockade of Armenia by Turkey, underlining that Turkey unfairly connects the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border with the settlement of the NK conflict. He noted that the problem should be regulated exclusively through the OSCE Minsk Group: on the basis of three known principles, and Turkey has nothing to do there. The NA Deputy Speaker qualified the actions of Azerbaijan inadmissible, stating that they do not comply with the common spirit of the negotiating process and contradict the statements and recommendations of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs.
Let us remind that the delegation is comprised of the Head of Armenia-Japan Parliamentary Friendship Group Samvel Farmanyan and the member of the Group Alexander Arzumanyan. The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the RA to Japan Hrant Poghosyan accompanied the parliamentary delegation.