Saturday, March 23 2024 11:07

ArmInfo. On March 22, the President of the RA National Assembly Alen Simonyan met with the  Speaker of Parliament of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova within the framework of the 148th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union being held in Geneva, the press service of the Armenian Parliament reports.  The meeting was organized on the initiative and mediation of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

The possible support of the parliaments of the two countries to the  process of the peaceful negotiations going on between Armenia and  Azerbaijan was discussed.  The sides agreed to observe the  opportunity of dialogue at inter-parliamentary level.  The meeting  was held in the constructive atmosphere.

At the end of the meeting the heads of the parliaments of the two  countries made a joint statement.

In addition, as the IPU official website reports, on the sidelines of  the IPU session, yesterday, the leadership of the Inter-Parliamentary  Union "hosted high-level delegations from Armenia and Azerbaijan on  the eve of the IPU's 148th Assembly, which takes place from 23-27  March in Geneva, Switzerland." According to the source, IPU President  Tulia Ackson and IPU Secretary General Martin Chungong welcomed to  IPU headquarters the Armenian delegation, led by the Speaker of the  Azgayin Zhogov (National Assembly), Mr. Alen Simonyan, and the  Azerbaijani delegation, led by the Speaker of the Milli Mejlis  (National Assembly), Ms. Sahiba Gafarova.  The meeting was designed  as a complement and contribution at the parliamentary level to  governmental peace negotiations between the two sides.  Parliamentarians, as representatives of the people, have a key role  to play in reducing tensions and building confidence, as well as in  ratifying and implementing any future peace agreement.  The IPU  offered its good offices to the two sides to promote dialogue, build  good neighbourly relations, and to help pave the way towards a  normalization of ties between the two countries.

This was the first time that the two Parliaments had met. Both sides  agreed to continue the dialogue to rebuild trust under the auspices  of the IPU.

The meeting follows the IPU Secretary General's mission to Armenia  and Azerbaijan in February 2024, during which he met the authorities  at the highest levels and laid down some of the groundwork for  today's discussions.  The IPU also signed memoranda of understanding  with Armenia, which will host the IPU Global Conference of Young  Parliamentarians in September 2024, and with Azerbaijan, in its  capacity as Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement Parliamentary Network  (NAM PN)," they noted.