YEREVAN. – Same-sex marriages have been and will remain unconstitutional in Armenia.

Member of the President-affiliated Specialized Committee on Constitutional Reforms, ex-Minister of Justice Hrayr Tovmasyan, noted the above-said at Friday’s National Assembly (NA) hearings.

“Pursuant to the current Constitution [of the country], a union of the persons of the same sex is not considered a marriage; also with the new draft [Constitution],” stated Tovmasyan. “In legal terms, such unions are not considered a family.

“Any attempt in Armenia to enter into a marriage with a person of the same sex is contrary to the Constitution [of the country].”

Constitutional law expert Vardan Poghosyan, who is also a member of the aforesaid specialized committee, for his part, noted that defining marriage pursuant to the Constitution rules out any ambiguity.

“A man and a woman of marriageable age have the right to form a family with each other,” noted Poghosyan. “A man and a woman; only so.”