YEREVAN. – The President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, on Wednesday met with Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, the Speaker of the People’s Council (Parliament) of Syria. 

The meeting was held within the framework of the two-day International Social and Political Global Forum against the Crime of Genocide. This forum is devoted to the Armenian Genocide Centennial, and it got underway Wednesday in Armenia’s capital city of Yerevan. About 600 participants from fifty countries are taking part in this event.

Sargsyan thanked the senior official guest for attending this forum, and expressed his gratitude to the People’s Council of Syria for its actions toward the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, for his part, conveyed to President Sargsyan the warm greetings and good wishes by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and stressed that Syria possesses special feelings toward Armenia and the Armenian people. He added that his delegation’s participation in this Yerevan forum shows that Syria recognizes the Armenian Genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire.

At the ensuing talk, the interlocutors discussed Armenia-Syria relations. In addition, President Sargsyan noted with sadness the current domestic political situation in Syria, but expressed the hope that peace and stability will soon be established in the country.

Serzh Sargsyan and Mohammad Jihad al-Laham also highlighted the Armenian-Syrian interparliamentary ties.