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On May 15, the sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and the National Assembly of Artsakh Republic was held in Yerevan.

In his opening remarks the RA NA President Ararat Mirzoyan has welcomed his colleagues of Artsakh Republic and on the occasion of the regular, 13^th sitting  of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the two Armenian parliaments, which is the first one during the RA NA 7^th convocation.

The Head of the parliament has underlined that the 2018 extraordinary parliamentary elections by the most pedant international observation missions have been assessed as free, democratic, transparent which, according to the NA President, is a very important fact.

Ararat Mirzoyan thanked his Artsakh colleagues for carrying out in those elections with the observation mission and expressed readiness to take part with an observation mission during the national elections being expected in Artsakh.

After being elected NA President Ararat Mirzoyan considered necessary his first visit to Artsakh. “During the contacts friendly relations have been formed between all MPs irrespective of party affiliation of the two parliaments’ deputies. The works of the Committee have special role in the established ties as a format giving an opportunity for concrete discussions,” the Head of the parliament said.

The NA President highlighted the formation of the national united political agenda as a result of joint works. “I am sure that it is everybody’s wish, and all possibilities and preconditions exist for it. There are no separate interests of Armenia and Artsakh, our interests are united in all directions, and we should consistently advance them,” Ararat Mirzoyan noted. He emphasized the agenda theme of the sitting: the perspectives of the parliamentary diplomacy activation and the role of the parliamentary diplomacy in the NK conflict settlement process.

“Our parliamentarians, making the motivations, essence and peculiarities of Karabakh problem origin more accessible for the international community, should confidently promote with our everyday consistent steps the international recognition of Artsakh,” the NA President said. The Head of the legislative body has underlined that the use of the principle of legal equality and nations’ self-determination as one of the guarantees of the execution of the human fundamental rights. It is not possible to live and create in the hostile atmosphere, where the physical security of the population is under danger. “The people of Artsakh have self-determined, and they build our ancestors’ dreamed modern country, and the citizen’s fundamental freedoms are laid in that basis. The problems of the Artsakh people need to be internationalized: these are the much sounded positions and approaches by the Armenian delegates on different international platforms. We don’t spare efforts for misinterpreting the reality by Azerbaijan, moving the discussion on Karabakh problem to other platforms and withstanding the advancement of the resolutions having connection with the reality on different parliamentary platforms,” Ararat Mirzoyan said.

Speaking about the activity of the RA NA delegations in the international structures, the Head of the parliament has referred to the works being done in PACE frameworks, underlining that the CoE has no relevant mandate for the settlement of the conflicts, but in the frameworks of its functions the organization can directly initiate contacts with Artsakh Republic regardless of any fact. “The steps being taken by us in the OSCE, NATO, PABSEC, and on other platforms are directed to voice the problems of the people living in the NK, as well as making realistic as much as possible the equal use of the European Convention of Human Rights on the whole territory of Europe continent, including the NK. This year turned the 25^th anniversary of the establishment of ceasefire regime between Artsakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia. During this period we are faithful for the letter and spirit of the ceasefire tripartite agreement and committed to the solution of the conflict through exclusively peaceful means in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs,” Ararat Mirzoyan said. According to the NA President, having activity on the international parliamentary platforms, the delegates of Armenia with special emphasis note that the formation of the atmosphere of trust in the NK problem settlement is of essential importance.

“I am glad when I see the results of our joint consistent steps: the tendencies of expanding the format of the Friendship Groups with the Parliament of Artsakh, the growing number of the international delegations visiting Artsakh and the true evaluations on the NK problem by the parliaments of different countries of the world. All this has served as the steps directed to the international recognition of Artsakh, and Armenia, Artsakh and Diaspora have been consolidated for its implementation and due to which we prove that we are invincible together,” the Head of the parliament said.

The NA President thanked the Committee members for taking part in the sitting, wishing them new united successes.

Welcoming the participants of the sitting, the NA President Ashot Ghulyan expressed satisfaction over holding the sitting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee in Yerevan. According to him, during past months all political forces of the RA parliament with high representation visited Artsakh and had meetings with the representatives of the legislative, as well as the executive power. In parallel with the contacts between the political forces the AR NA President highlighted the format of holding the joint sittings of the Committees, which proved its efficiency. In the context of the parliamentary diplomacy activation the Head of the legislative body attached importance to the use of the deputies’ potential. “Today, the RA international authority gives necessary positive impetuses for advancing the international national agenda items. In this context our main efforts should be focused on strengthening the existing relations with the international colleagues, establishing new partnership ties and voicing the issues of recognition on different platforms,” Ashot Ghulyan said.

He expressed his gratitude to the President of the RA National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan, the colleagues of Armenia’s parliament for the warm reception and wished them useful work.

Afterwards the parliamentarians turned to the debate of the agenda items which went on in the format of behind closed doors.