On November 3, the Chairman of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations Armen Ashotyan, Committee members Shirak Torosyan, Arayik Aghababyan and Artak Zeynalyan received the authoritative delegation led by the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Council of Representatives of the Republic of Iraq Abdelbari Al-Zibari.
Welcoming the guests in the RA National Assembly Armen Ashotyan thanked the partner delegation of the parliament of the Republic of Iraq for accepting the Committee’s invitation to visit Armenia.
Armen Ashotyan has highlighted the development of the friendly relations between Armenia and Iraq, and has noted that besides the cultural ties, numerous perspectives concerning the economic, political and humanitarian cooperation also unite the two peoples.
Armen Ashotyan has also stated that within the framework of the foreign policy priorities the Republic of Armenia greatly highlights the development of the relations with the Near East countries, including also with the Republic of Iraq. In this context he has touched upon the historical firm friendship existing between the peoples of Armenia and Iraq, which once again underlines the reality that there are no religious problems in the region.
The Committee Chairman emphasized the close cooperation of the Committees on Foreign Relations of the two parliaments and noted that the Committees can have contribution in practice to the development of the inter-parliamentary ties. In this context the role and activities of the Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Groups was also highly assessed.
Regarding the regional problems, Armen Ashotyan has highlighted the victory of the Iraqi people in fight against DAESH and has noted that the fight against extremism is one of the most important priorities of the foreign policy of the two states.
The Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Council of Representatives of the Republic of Iraq Abdelbari Al-Zibari has thanked the Armenian side for the invitation and noted that the Armenian-Iraqi relations have great potential of development. He has emphasized the possibilities of cooperation in the economic, political and humanitarian spheres.
The sides also referred to the perspectives of development in the sphere of tourism and the necessity of having regular flights between the two states.
At the end of the meeting the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Council of Representatives of the Republic of Iraq expressed wish to host in Iraq the delegation of the RA NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, which Armen Ashotyan gladly accepted.