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“The Development of the Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation for the Benefit of the Joint Prosperity of the Eurasian Regional Countries”

“Honourable Mr Chung, Honourable Mr Volodin, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, let me express my sincere gratitude to the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea Chung Sye-kyun and the Speaker of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin for initiating the meeting.

We welcome your efforts of gathering together the Speakers of the legislative bodies of the Eurasian countries to discuss issues of the development of the inter-parliamentary cooperation.

The meeting is for uniting the representatives of different countries of the biggest continent, where more than seventy percent of the population of our planet lives. The Eurasian region, being a Motherland of the most ancient cultures and civilisations, has a great economic potential. In this context the political, cultural and economic diversity of the countries represented here creates a firm basis to solve the more urgent problems of the regional development and security.

In the 21^st century the role of the parliamentary diplomacy in the international relations has considerably been risen, harmonically filling up and even expanding the possibilities of the traditional diplomacy. We, the deputies, are free in our researches to solve the urgent problems and we should play an important role in boosting the regional cooperation, in advancing constructional dialogue, which will further strengthen the mutual trust and understanding between the Eurasian peoples.

Today, when the world is facing serious challenges, the dialogue and cooperation are more important, than ever. We live in the conditions of new crises and threats, and we witness the deepening of the divisive lines. In the conditions of globalization the instability in the region can have consequences of world scale. Therefore, we should unite our efforts to ensure stability and peace.

Dear Colleagues, today various integration programmes are actively developing in Eurasia. We are concerned over their successful advancement. The dialogue and the cooperation between different integration associations can have an important contribution, in creating territory without divisive lines. Armenia’s membership to the Eurasian Economic Union has essentially raised our economic and commercial possibilities. We greatly highlight the cooperation of the Eurasian Economic Union with the concerned countries and key integration associations, which are ready for real cooperation.

In Armenia we think that the membership does not restrict one integration association with other integration structures, if such cooperation does not contradict the obligations assumed earlier.

In 2016 Armenia received a status of dialogue partner in Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The project of creation of the Silk Road Economic Zone initiated by China is also of great interest for us.

This year we are going to sign the new legal basis of our relations with the European Union: Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement.

Dear Colleagues, the development of the economic cooperation between the states is possible only in the safe atmosphere. However, there are regions involved in the conflict in Eurasia, where the restoration of stable peace requires huge efforts.

The peaceful settlement of Nagorno Karabakh conflict remains one of the most important problems of our region. The only format for the settlement of Nagorno Karabakh problem is the OSCE Minsk Co-Chairs’ Group having international mandate, comprised of Russia, France and the USA. According to the statements of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, the conflict should be solved based on the principles of international law, particularly the right of the peoples’ self-determination, non-use of force or threat of use of force and territorial integrity, which the Co-Chair countries consistently present as united integrity with the elements of the conflict settlement. The Co-Chairs’ recommendation also designs the definition of the final legal status of Nagorno Karabakh in the future through legally binding referendum. Azerbaijan consistently damages the peaceful settlement process refusing to recognize the right of Nagorno Karabakh people’s self determination. in response to the Co-Chair countries, condemnation of the use of force or threat of use, the authorities of Azerbaijan permanently announce that the international law is ineffective, and it is possible to solve the problem only by use of force. Last year in April Azerbaijan’s aggression towards Artsakh once again proved that the execution of the right to self-determination has no alternative.

Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh together with the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs always made statements for the peaceful settlement of the conflict. Taking the advantage I call on my colleague, the Speaker of Azerbaijan’s parliament to promote the solution of the problem through peaceful means.

Ladies and gentlemen, aspiring to strengthen the democratic principles, in 2015 we initiated the process of the Constitutional reforms, as a result of which, the transition to the system of parliamentary government has already launched. On April 2 of this year parliamentary elections were held in Armenia. They were remarkable by the unprecedented number of international observers, who announced that the elections were held well organized, the fundamental freedoms were preserved, and the results of those elections reflect the people’s will.

Dear Colleagues, the wish of peace, sustainable development and welfare corresponds with our peoples’ aspirations.

The Chinese great philosopher Confucius has said: when the roads are not the same, we don’t make programmes together. In our case all of us should equally aspire for peace, prosperity and cooperation.

I would like to express hope that this format will fit in the framework of the mutually beneficial cooperation of not only our countries and parliaments, but will also promote the establishment of inter-personal contacts.”