YEREVAN. – Vice President of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia, Eduard Sharmazanov, on Tuesday met with members of the Syrian People’s Council (parliament), Omar Al-Arabi and Alan Bakeri.

Chargé d’affaires of Syria to Armenia, Issam Nayal, also attended the talk, the NA press service informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Sharmazanov welcomed the Syrian lawmakers’ visit to Armenia, and said Armenian-Syrian friendship dates back centuries, and this was further strengthened owing to Syria’s sheltering and giving a second homeland to the Armenian refugees who had survived Armenian Genocide.

Eduard Sharmazanov highlighted the cooperation between the two countries, and in this context, paid special attention to the strengthening of parliamentary ties. He expressed gratitude to Syria’s parliament for the steps aimed at discussing the Armenian Genocide issue in the year past.

“The denial of genocides is full of the risk of recurrence of the crime,” Sharmazanov said. “Turkish denial and impunity gave birth to new terrorists, like the Islamic State.”

The Syrian Crisis was also discussed at the meeting. Sharmazanov wished endurance to the people of Syria, and expressed the hope that soon peace and law will be established in this country. He also underscored the stance of Armenia regarding fight against terrorism, and assured that Armenian lawmakers are ready to raise their voices in various international platforms, for a peaceful settlement of the Syrian issue.

The Syrian MPs, for their part, thanked Eduard Sharmazanov for the warm reception, and passed on the gratitude of the Syrian leadership and people to the Armenian people, for supporting and assisting them during difficult times. The Syrian lawmakers also highlighted the deepening of parliamentary ties, and said discussions are underway in the respective committee’s of the Syrian parliament, regarding the recognition of Armenian Genocide.

In addition, they invited the deputy speaker of the Armenian parliament to pay an official visit to Syria.