Wednesday, September 13 2017 13:18

ArmInfo.On September 12, Gagik Minasyan, the leader of the Armenian-Israeli parliamentary friendship group, met with an Israeli delegation headed by the Vice-  Speaker of the Knesset, leader of the parliamentary friendship group Israel-Armenia Tali Ploskov.

Welcoming the visit of the guests to Armenia, Minasyan highly  appreciated the cooperation of the friendship groups. He expressed  hope for even greater consolidation and development of relations,  which is important both in terms of economics and humanitarian  contacts. Minasyan, in particular, noted that economic relations,  despite the availability of potential, are unsatisfactory. In this  context, the interlocutors emphasized the importance of the  "Armenia-Israel Public Forum" initiative, considering it the best  platform for the development of Armenian-Israeli relations.

The head of the Armenian-Israeli parliamentary friendship group said  that the Armenians are particularly sympathetic to the Jews, which is  due to the historical communions of the two peoples.

Addressing the Artsakh problem, Minasyan noted that Armenia is firm  in resolving the conflict by peaceful means, while Azerbaijan is  trying to resolve the issue by military means, which is also  evidenced by the April four-day war that was unleashed last year.

The meeting also touched upon the process of international  recognition of the Armenian Genocide. In the assessment of the leader  of the friendship group, historical justice has not yet been  achieved. "The unrecognized and unpardonable crime opens new doors  for a new crime," Minasyan emphasized. He expressed the hope that the  process started on this issue in the Knesset of Israel will bring the  process to its logical conclusion.

The leader of the parliamentary friendship group Israel-Armenia, Tali  Ploskov, thanked for the warm welcome, also stressed the need to  deepen diverse relations. According to Ploskov, over the past two  years, quite a bit of work has been done - bilateral contacts have  been intensified, direct flights between the two countries are being  implemented, which promotes new cooperation.

Turning to the process of international recognition of the Armenian  Genocide, Tali Ploskov noted that the members of the Knesset of  Israel understood the pain of the Armenian people - the question was  heard, but, unfortunately, he received a political color. In this  context, Ms. Ploskov reiterated her thoughts in Tsitsernakaberd  during last year's visit to Armenia: "If the world did not forgive  the Armenian Genocide, there would probably not be a Jewish  Holocaust."

Ploskov emphasized that Israel supports the efforts of the OSCE MG in  resolving the Karabakh conflict, and believes that the problem should  be solved exclusively by peaceful means.

Other issues of bilateral interest were also discussed. Members of  the friendship groups emphasized the need to deepen ties in the field  of economics, high technology, agriculture, tourism, culture, and the  expansion of contacts between the two peoples.