ArmInfo.Chairman of the National Assembly Ara Babloyan on March 27, in the framework of the 138th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, met with the President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus, Demetris Siluris.
According to the press service of the Parliament, Babloyan highly appreciated the Armenian-Cypriot fraternity relations, stressing that both nations are linked by historical, cultural, spiritual and value communities, a clear indication of which is the fact of recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide by Cyprus in 1975. The Speaker of the Parliament expressed gratitude for unanimous adoption on April 2, 2015 the House of Representatives of Cyprus resolutions on the criminalization of the denial of the Armenian Genocide. He expressed confidence that Armenia will continue to make efforts to recognize, condemn and prevent genocides.
Noting that the parliamentary relations between Armenia and Cyprus thanks to joint efforts reached a new level, Babloyan stressed the need to revive the work in the commissions and intensify the mutual visits of the delegations of the two legislative bodies. The Speaker of the National Assembly in the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict highly appreciated the firm support of the efforts of the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group by the Cypriot authorities. The head of parliament confirmed that the Armenian authorities have always helped and will assist Cyprus at various international venues on the Cyprus problem. Babloyan also addressed the signing of the Agreement on Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership between Armenia and the European Union, expressing the hope that Cyprus within a reasonable time will conduct the necessary domestic procedures for the entry of the document into force. The Head of the Armenian Parliament also touched upon the effective cooperation of the parliaments of the two countries in international structures, the centuries-old friendship of the peoples and the even more strengthened Armenian community of Cyprus. In turn, Demetris Siluris proposed to develop strategic cooperation based on the implementation of specific programs in various fields. The parties agreed during the forthcoming visit of the Cyprus delegation to Armenia to address this issue and take more practical and concrete steps.