President Sarkissian Raises Issue of Armenian Genocide Recognition by Knesset in Israel

• 01.23.2020, 14:54
•  Near East,  World,  Armenia

President of Armenia Armen Sarkissian and spouse Nouneh Sarkissian visited the Knesset, the parliament of Israel, on the sidelines of his working visit, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

"It’s a great honor for us to host you in our country. We are happy for your visit, even if it is taking place within the frames of not so happy event", the Speaker of the Knesset said in his welcoming remarks, expressing confidence that the visit of President Sarkissian, as well as Armenia’s decision to open embassy in Israel will be important steps for the future development of the bilateral relations. "I think this visit will bring a very positive change to our relations. Our partnership potential is much more than we use it today", Yuli Edelstein said.

"Frankly, for many years I wished to return back to Israel as I have memories with this country", the Armenian President said, by attaching importance to the experience of Israel in the fields of IT, innovations.

Talking about the similar historic pages the Armenian President said the similarities of the fates of the two nations are impressive and they hint that it is necessary to think about the future. "We can jointly create that future both as two states and two nations. Armenia is a small country, but a global nation, the same is Israel. I am here also for outlining the cooperation areas. Armenia highlights the development of many sectors, such as science, education, security, agriculture and innovative technologies. As a President I have an initiative to make Armenia a new technological hub because we have several advantages for doing that. There are highly-qualified physics, mathematicians in our country, we have very good educational programs in programming", Armen Sarkissian said.

President Sarkissian said many historic pages for Armenian and Jewish peoples have been tragic, adding that it is necessary to unite efforts to prevent the repetition of such human disasters. Armen Sarkissian raised the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the Knesset, stating that the recognition and condemnation of this shameful page of history should not be connected with today’s political interests and realities. "The recognition of the Armenian Genocide is first of all a moral responsibility and a tribute to the memory of innocent victims, but at the same time it is also an important contribution to the international efforts aimed at preventing genocides and crimes against humanity", the Armenian President said.

At the end of the visit President Armen Sarkissian left a note in the Honorary Guest Book. Thereafter, he and his wife Nouneh Sarkissian toured the Knesset.