Galust Sahakyan receives Dutch parliamentary delegation
Armenian National Assembly Speaker Galust Sahakyan on Tuesday received the members of the delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of Netherlands, the Armenian parliament’s press service reports.
Welcoming the guests in the National Assembly, Galust Sahakyan expressed hope that this visit will promote the development and strengthening of Armenian-Dutch friendly relations.
Mr Sahakyan noted that there is a huge potential for development of relations between Armenia and the Netherlands in different areas, hence, it is necessary to boost the cooperation especially in the areas of economy, education and culture. Galust Sahakyan stated that we should develop the political contacts of the two countries, especially underlining the development of inter-parliamentary relations.
The Armenian Parliament Speaker praised the balanced position of the Netherlands on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. He thanked the House of Representatives of the Netherlands for the decision made on reaching a common agreement on the own history by Armenia and Turkey on April 9 of this year, by which it calls on Turkey not to distort the history.
Galust Sahakyan noted that the international community, joining the struggle for recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide, will condemn the genocides perpetrated in the past and will prevent new massacres.
The chief of the Parliament also informed the guests that the program of creating parliamentary committees against genocides has been initiated by the Armenian National Assembly, which will be submitted to the parliaments of the progressive states. It is designed by the program that all the parliaments should have similar committees which will struggle - through coordinated work - against the genocides occurring in the world.
Thanking the Armenian NA Speaker for the reception, head of the Dutch delegation Harry van Bommel characterized their visit to Armenia as important and historical, noting that it will become the start of cooperation of the parliaments of the two countries. He noted that most of the members of the delegation took part in the events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide Centennial. On the same days, disputes and debates concerning the recognition of the Genocide were held in the Dutch Parliament.
The head of the delegation noted that as Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives they always voice the issues concerning the recognition of the Armenian Genocide and the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh.