YEREVAN—On the sidelines of a global forum on crimes against humanity and genocide being held in Yerevan, Armenia’s President Serzh Sarkisian met with Syria’s Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Jihad al-Laham, who called for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

 

Sarkisian welcomed the dignitary to his country and thanked him for his participation in the forum, which, according to Sarkisian, once again speaks to the “sincere respect of the friendly Syrian people toward the Armenian people.” The President expressed his gratitude to the People’s Council of Syria, as the Syrian parliament is called, for its steps aimed at the recognition of the Armenian Genocide. The President praised the special session of the People’s Council of Syria held in March in connection with the Armenian Genocide and the influential speech delivered by Speaker al-Laham.

Al-Laham conveyed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s warm regards and best wishes to President Sarkisian and stressed that Syrians have a special attitude towards Armenia and the Armenian people. He noted that the participation of his delegation in the Yerevan forum bears witness to the fact that Syria recognizes the Armenian Genocide committed by the Ottoman Empire. Speaker al-Laham said that the global forum, titled “Against the Crime of Genocide,” is a good opportunity to mobilize the efforts of the international community and prevent the repetition of such crimes in the future.

President Sarkisian lamented the internal political situation prevailing in Syria for more than four years now and expressed the hope that the friendly country of Syria will grow stronger as a result of this hardship and will manage to ensure domestic peace and stability.

At the meeting, the parties also attached value to the strengthening of inter-parliamentary ties which lie at the core of relations between Armenia and Syria.