HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN INVITED TO CYPRUS

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On November 12 Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hovik Abrahamyan received the delegation headed by Marios Garoyan, President of the House of Representatives of Cyprus.

Greeting the guests, Mr. Abrahamyan attached importance to the deepening of interparliamentary ties, which will facilitate the development of mutually beneficial cooperation with the Republic of Cyprus in the trade-economic, scientific-educational and cultural spheres. The Armenian Parliament Speaker stressed the friendly and warm attitude of the authorities of Cyprus towards the Armenian community, noting that hosting thousands of Armenians at the turns of the last century, Cyprus was one of the first countries to recognise the Armenian Genocide in 1982.

Turning to the high-level relations between the parliaments of the two countries, Mr. Abrahamyan highlighted bilateral cooperation and close collaboration within international organizations. The NA Speaker said the Republic of Armenia backs the solution of the Cyprus issue on the basis of a federal structure with one government and citizenship.

Turning to the Karabakh conflict resolution, Hovik Abrahamyan reminded that Armenia has always stood for the resolution of the issue through peace talks within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. In this respect, the Speaker stressed the importance of the declaration signed in Moscow between the President of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia, which reconfirms the commitment to solve the issue in a peaceful way. Speaking about regional issues, Mr. Abrahamyan noted that Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without preconditions.

President of the House of Representative of Cyprus Maris Garoyan thanked for warm reception and said his great dream of visiting the land of predecessors came true today. He expressed confidence that the visit will contribute to the reinforcement of relations between the two parliaments. Mr. Garoyan invited the Armenian Parliament Speaker to pay an official visit to Cyprus. The Cyprus House Speaker informed his Armenian counterpart about the details of the Cyprus issue, noting that the issue should be solved for the sake of preserving the unity of the island. He noted that being a member of the European Union, Cyprus is ready to support Armenia on the path of European integration and the Action Plan signed within the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy provides an opportunity to work in this direction. Mr. Garoyan expressed willingness to contribute to the close cooperation between the parliamentary delegations of the two countries within international parliamentary organisations.