ArmInfo.The leader of the Prosperous Armenia party Gagik Tsarukyan explained why he is opposed to the Istanbul Convention.
<We are the first Christian nation. A family. Sacred foundations. Church. Bible. It is unacceptable for us that people of non-traditional sexual orientation can adopt and raise a child. For the Prosperous Armenia Party, starting from Gagik Tsarukyan, this is unacceptable. Let all that they want declare about us - that we have outdated thinking, and so on. Are we saying something bad? We propose appropriate legislative initiatives, "Tsarukyan stressed on November 13 in an interview with reporters. Answering the question of whether the Istanbul Convention contains acceptable provisions for the party, he said: <They say that the Istanbul Convention is against violence. Let's adopt our national law against violence, establish three, four times more severe penalties. We do not want such formulations to be <between the lines>. We add that earlier the Prosperous Armenia faction proposed amending the Family Code to prohibit same-sex marriage and adoption of children by these couples. On the part of the parliamentary majority, the proposal to include these bills on the agenda was rejected. It should be noted that in January 2018, Armenia signed the Istanbul Convention ("Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence"). However, this convention has not yet been ratified by the country's parliament. The Istanbul Convention (or the "Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence") was signed in 2011 in Istanbul (Turkey). Of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, 34 have ratified the Convention, 11 have signed. In Armenia, this convention was opposed by the general public, as well as the Armenian Apostolic Church, who believe that it contradicts the national, family and traditional foundations of the Armenian people.
Earlier, the RA Ministry of Justice sent the Istanbul Convention to the Venice Commission in order to study its compliance with the norms of the country's legislation.