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Vice Speaker of the Armenian parliament Edward Sharmazanov met on November 26 with Chairman of Russia’s State Duma Sergey Naryshkin on the sidelines of a regular meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), according to the press service of the Armenian parliament.

Sharmazanov expressed concern over the downing of Russian Su-24 jet by Turkey. He in particular said: “Shooting down a warplane fighting terrorism is tantamount to supporting terrorists. The downing of an Armenian helicopter last year by order of the criminal regime of Azerbaijan considered Turkey’s younger brother probably created an impression among Turkish political leaders that such grave crimes may go unpunished. As we know, the world is changing, with new political approaches and new situations emerging, and Armenia proved over time that it is an ally of Russia and the Russian people are a fraternal nation for us. Unfortunately Turkey has not changed in the last hundred years”.

Speaking about multilateral cooperation, E. Sharmazanov said that Armenian National Assembly considers it unacceptable to use sanctions against MPs. He told S. Naryshkin that Armenia welcomes adoption of the bill on criminalization of the Armenian Genocide denial – the bill was introduced in the State Duma recently – because the absence of an assessment of crimes committed in the past leads to new crimes, including terrorist acts we witness today.

Naryshkin thanked Armenia for supporting Russia on the international platforms. He said that past crimes and misdeeds must be condemned so as to prevent future crimes. As regards Turkey, Naryshkin said in particular: “Turkey stabbed us in the back, which is typical of cowards. No doubt, it is Turkey’s political leadership, not the Turkish people that is to blame for what happened. The political leadership of Turkey will regret having committed that grave crime”.

Naryshkin thanked the Armenian side for a proposal to hold a sitting of CSTO PA in Yerevan in 2016. The interlocutors also discussed further activities within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and stressed the importance of joint work.