When I was talking to the representatives of the Venice Commission, I told them that in many European countries, when a man and woman take a stroll and someone hurts the woman, the man will smile and escape, but we Armenians are the most traditional nation. This is what deputy of the Prosperous Armenia faction Gevorg Petrosyan stated during the protest against ratification of the Istanbul Convention in front of the National Assembly today.

“I asked them if they knew that they were in the cradle of civilization and that, by our Constitution, only a man and woman can marry each other. Our sovereignty allows us to disapprove the values that I strongly believe contradict our value system. They have no arguments,” Gevorg Petrosyan said.

The National Assembly today held a closed discussion on ratification of the Istanbul Convention with Members of Parliament and high-ranking representatives of the Council of Europe. Among the participants was Vice-President of the Venice Commission Veronica Belkova and President of GREVIO Marceline Naudi.

At the same time, citizens held a protest against ratification of the Istanbul Convention in front of the National Assembly and a march through the streets of Yerevan.