Ararat Mirozyan: Artsakh and Armenian interests are united
The 13th meeting of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee on Cooperation between the Armenian and Artsakh National Assemblies was held in Yerevan on Wednesday, Armenian National Assembly’s press service reported.
Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan highlighted the most demanding international observation missions have assessed the extraordinary parliamentary elections in 2018 as free, democratic, transparent, which, according to NA Speaker, is an extremely important circumstance.
Ararat Mirzoyan expressed his gratitude to Artsakh colleagues for their observation mission and expressed readiness to observe the upcoming parliamentary elections in Artsakh.
After being elected NA Speaker Ararat Mirzoyan noted that he considered it necessary to make his first visit to Artsakh.
The NA President attached importance to the formation of a common national political agenda as a result of joint work.
“Artsakh and Armenian interests are united in all directions and they should be consistently advancing,” said Ararat Mirzoyan.
"Our parliamentarians, making the international community more accessible to the international community, the motives, the essence and peculiarities of the origin of the Karabakh issue should surely contribute to the international recognition of Artsakh,” he said.
Speaking about the activities of the Armenian Parliament delegations in the international structures, the head of the parliament touched upon the work carried out within the PACE, stressing that the Council of Europe does not have the appropriate mandate and mechanism for the settlement of conflicts, but within its functions the organization can directly initiate contacts with Artsakh.
"The steps we take in the OSCE, NATO, BSEC and other platforms are to raise the issue of people living in Nagorno-Karabakh, and to make equal use of the European Convention on Human Rights across Europe, including in the Nagorno-Karabakh region. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the ceasefire between Artsakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia. During this time, we have been loyal to the letter and spirit of the ceasefire agreement and commitment to solving the conflict exclusively in the format of OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing,” he said.
Ararat Mirzoyan thanked the members of the commission for participating in the session, wishing new joint successes.
Welcoming the participants of the session, Nagorno Karabakh Speaker Ashot Ghulyan expressed satisfaction with the holding of the session of the Inter-Parliamentary Committee in Yerevan. According to him, during the past months, all Armenian political forces have visited Artsakh with high representation and met with representatives of the legislative and executive powers.
"The international reputation of Armenia today gives the necessary positive impetus to advance the issues of the international pan-Armenian agenda. In this context, our main efforts should be focused on strengthening existing relations with international partners, establishing new partnerships and raising Artsakh's recognition on different platforms,” he said.