YEREVAN — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan received the delegation led by Tim Loughton, the head of the Great Britain -Armenia Friendship Group of the UK Parliament.
The Prime Minister attached importance to the visit of the delegation to Armenia, expressing hope that it will give a new impetus to the further development of the Armenian-British relations, including in the inter-parliamentary sphere. Nikol Pashinyan noted that the Armenian government is interested in expanding cooperation with Great Britain in political, economic, cultural and other directions.
Tim Loughton expressed confidence that the cooperation at the parliamentary level will continue to further strengthen, and they will make every effort to contribute to the deepening of bilateral political and economic ties. He stressed the importance of the democratic reforms in our country and expressed confidence that their effective implementation will contribute to the further progress of Armenia.
The situation in the South Caucasus, in particular, around Nagorno Karabakh was touched upon.
Prime Minister Pashinyan presented his observations on the processes taking place around Nagorno Karabakh, stressed the importance of an adequate response of the international community to the un-constructive actions carried out by Azerbaijan.
The Prime Minister touched upon the humanitarian issues arising from the Azerbaijani actions in Artsakh, the steps taken to destroy the Armenian cultural heritage in the territories that have passed under the control of the Azerbaijani armed forces, the opportunities for demarcation and delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, unblocking of the regional infrastructure, as well as the Armenian-Turkish dialogue.
The British MPs aldo held meetings with President Vahagn Kachaturyan, Speakerr of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan and Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.
British MPs Visit Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex
On April 1, the members of the Head of the Friendship Group Great Britain-Armenia of Parliament of the United Kingdom Tim Loughton accompanied by the members of the delegation led by the Head of the RA NA Friendship Group Great Britain-Armenia Eduard Aghajanyan and the NA deputy Mariam Poghosyan visited Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex.
The guests laid flowers at the eternal fire perpetuating the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims. In the Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute, getting acquainted with the exhibits documenting the genocide, the members of the Friendship Group left a note in the Book of Honourable Guests.
The Head of the Friendship Group Great Britain-Armenia of Parliament of the United Kingdom Tim Loughton noted: “We should never forget the lessons of history. Places like this remind us that we should be vigilant towards the events happening around us. I have greatly appreciated our visit. This is a very special place.”
The member of the House of Lords of Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Armenian people’s great friend, Baroness Caroline Cox greeted everybody in Armenian and noted: “I am very happy to be back with your wonderful people in your historic country again. I am happy to be back here with members of the United Kingdom Parliament: members of House of Commons and members of House of Lords. We’ll try to be your voice. And we’ll to encourage British foreign policy to be supportive of your situation. But our hearts break with the suffering of your people, especially in Artsakh at this time. But we are here to stand alongside you, to speak for you. And we respect you. And I always say we thank you for holding the frontline of freedom and faith for the rest of the world.”
