YEREVAN. – They did not present any convincing arguments as to why we should ratify the Istanbul Convention. Gevorg Petrosyan, a member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) faction in parliament, said this in a conversation with journalists after the discussion held with the participation of senior officials of the Council of Europe, in the National Assembly.

Also, Gevorg Petrosyan expressed hope that the Constitutional Court would consider the convention unconstitutional. He explained that if the Constitutional Court recognizes the convention as unconstitutional, it cannot be ratified.

Today the National Assembly held a joint debate with the deputies and high-ranking representatives of the Council of Europe regarding the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. The discussion was closed. The meeting was attended also by the Vice-President of the Venice Commission Veronika Bílková, and Marceline Naudi, head of the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (GREVIO).

At the same time, there was a protest against the ratification of the Istanbul Convention outside the National Assembly.