ArmInfo.The Delegation headed by the President of the RA National Assembly Alen Simonyan is on two-day official visit in Cyprus. The official visit began by the meeting with the President of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus Annita Demetriou.
As the press service of the Armenian parliament informs, after greeting each other a talk was held over the Armenian-Cypriot centuries-old friendship, common past and the mutual aid carried out in different episodes of history.
The RA NA President underlined that Cyprus was first in Europe in 1975, and the second in the world to recognize the Armenian Genocide, set April 24 as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, as well as responsibility for denial of genocides.
The excellent level of cooperation between the legislative bodies of the friendly countries was especially stressed, pre-indicating the perspective programmes.
The sides considered the format of the Committees on Cooperation functioning in parliaments the best mechanism for more expanding the inter-parliamentary agenda. The NA President highly assessed the exemplary cooperation of deputies of the two countries in different parliamentary assemblies for reaching the favourable solution of the important issues for each other.
The Head of the RA legislative body thanked the friendly Cyprus for the unanimous adoption of the resolution condemning the Azerbaijani aggression against Artsakh by the House of Representatives of Cyprus on 9 October 2020. He also expressed his gratitude to the President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus for receiving the participants of the 44-day war on the initiative of the MP of Armenian origin Vardges Mahtesian. Alen SImonyan considered condemnable the visit of the delegation headed by the Chair of Committee on International Relations and Inter-Parliamentary Cooperation of Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan Samed Seyidov in July 2021 to the northern part of Cyprus for taking part in the events of the 47th anniversary of the partial invasion by the Turkish side.
The President of the RA legislative body reaffirmed the full support of Armenia to the Republic of Cyprus and its people for the restoration of justice and the re-unification of brotherly Cyprus. The sides observed as priority the launch of the format Cyprus-Armenia-Greece parliamentary cooperation, affirming that wide opportunities would be created for the development of numerous spheres of mutual interest.
The President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus assured that she would make all efforts for strengthening the Armenian-Cypriot inter-parliamentary relations. She has expressed confidence that the RA NA President's visit is an important contribution to voicing mutual commitments and elaboration of joint programmes.
The RA NA President invited his Cypriot colleague to arrive in Armenia on an official visit. The meeting was ended by publishing bilateral statements for the press. The Presidents of Armenia and Cyprus also visited the ceasefire line within the framework of the official visit.
Simonyan also met with Cypriot Defense Minister Charalambos Petrides. During the meeting, the parties noted the existence of mutual understanding and support between the two countries, highlighted the effective cooperation in international structures to advance the agenda for the prevention of genocides. The parties also touched upon the military-political dialogue between the defense ministries of the two countries, which is carried out in the course of bilateral and multilateral meetings. Speaking about the Azerbaijani-Turkish military aggression against Artsakh, Simonyan thanked Cyprus for the principled position and support of the people of Artsakh, pointing out the importance of humanitarian and financial assistance provided to the Armenians of Artsakh in 2020. He also touched upon the resolution adopted on October 9, 2020 by the House of Representatives of Cyprus, which condemned Azerbaijan's aggression against Artsakh.
The parties stressed the importance of effectively realizing the opportunities in the format of the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement. This issue was also discussed at the meeting of Simonyan with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides.
At the meeting with the Cypriot Foreign Minister, the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament pointed out the importance of the earliest launch of the Cyprus-Armenia-Greece parliamentary cooperation format, especially in the situation after the 44-day war. In this context, an exchange of views took place on issues of regional security and stability.
The parties touched upon the Cyprus issue. The President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia noted that Armenia will continue to support Cyprus in international organizations and stands for a peaceful settlement of the issue through negotiations on the basis of the principles of UN resolutions. Both sides agreed to do their utmost to further strengthen cooperation and friendship. The Cypriot Foreign Minister stressed the invaluable role of the Armenian community in the public and political life of Cyprus. The interlocutors discussed the investment opportunities of the Cypriot side, stressing the importance of economic and tourism cooperation with Cyprus.