From July 3-6, a delegation headed by the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, was on an official visit to the Republic of Cyprus, which included the President of the Armenia-Cyprus Inter-Parliamentary Friendship Group, Mkhtar Hayrapetyan.
Within the framework of the three-day official visit, the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia held meetings with the President of the Parliament, Dimitris Syllouris, the members of the inter-parliamentary committee of the two parliaments, the Minister of Defence, Savas Angelidis, the Mayor of Nicosia, Constantinos Yorgadjis, as well as with the Head of the Greek Orthodox Church of Cyprus, Archbishop Chrysostomos.
On July 5, the President of the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan, delivered a speech within the House of Representatives of Cyprus.
At this event, upon a special official invitation received from the secretariat of the President of the Parliament of Cyprus, the official representatives of the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party, the Deputy Chairman of the ADL Central Board, Asadur Devletyan, and Yeghia Gayayan, were also present.
The President of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Cyprus, Dimitris Syllouris, spoke first. Welcoming the delegation headed by the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, he emphasised the centuries-old historical and cultural Armenian-Cypriot ties, which are the basis for further deepening the current high-level cooperation and bringing it to a practical level. He stressed the importance of the centuries-old fraternal ties between the Armenian and Cypriot peoples, which serve as a foundation for future prospects and make the two countries more connected, strengthening the existing bonds between them.
Syllouris also highlighted the role of the Armenian community of Cyprus in the economic and social life of the country.
In turn, the President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, in his speech emphasised that the Armenian and Cypriot peoples are true brothers, and Armenia and Cyprus are true friends. Mirzoyan expressed his deep gratitude to the House of Representatives of Cyprus for declaring April 24 as the official Day of Remembrance of the Armenian Genocide, and for unanimously adopting in 2015 the resolution criminalising the denial of genocides.
He pointed out that Armenian-Cypriot relations are exemplary in their manifestation of mutual understanding and mutual trust. Mirzoyan also emphasised the trilateral format of Armenia-Cyprus-Greece cooperation, noting that it creates new prospects for deepening multi-layered interaction between the participating states and provides the parties with the opportunity to more effectively utilise the full potential of cooperation.
In the evening of the same day, the Armenian parliamentarians visited the “Melkonian” educational institution of Cyprus, which has ceased to operate since 2005. For this special visit, the Cypriot Armenians had organised a protest against the decision to close the school by the AGBU. The protesters, among whom there were also Melkonians, stated that after the revolution in Armenia, they also expect a revolution in the Diaspora, emphasising that the implementation of the White Genocide cannot be allowed, and they rejected the sale of “Melkonian”.
Ararat Mirzoyan, expressing his sympathy towards the approaches of the struggling compatriots, promised to examine the overall problem of Melkonian in more detail, emphasising that the issue of the Melkonian School occupies an important place in the general Armenian agenda.
Afterwards, the delegation visited the Holy Mother of God Cathedral of Cyprus, the Narek National School, and then, within the hall of the prelacy, held a meeting with the Catholicosate Vicar of the Diocese of Cyprus, His Grace Archbishop Khoren Toghramajyan, which was also attended by the spiritual and national leaders of the colony and representatives of the community.
Those present had the opportunity to ask questions and received clarifications from the President of the National Assembly and the former Minister of the Diaspora, Mr. Mkhtar Hayrapetyan.
It should be noted that the delegation headed by Mirzoyan comprised seventeen deputies of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia and other officials. This official visit is considered a continuation of the trilateral meeting on diaspora issues held some time ago in the Armenia-Cyprus-Greece format, and later, on 4 June 2019, again in Nicosia, of the trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers, at the end of which the ministers had agreed on the establishment of the Armenia-Greece-Cyprus trilateral partnership, with the aim of promoting peace, stability and prosperity among the three countries through political dialogue and cooperation.
Within the framework of the future meetings to be held in the trilateral format, a decision had been made to hold the first meeting of the heads of state in the trilateral format in Armenia, in January 2020.
