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On May 4 Galust Sahakyan, Head of the RPA Faction of the National Assembly received a group of Turkish journalists.

Galust Sahakyan highlighted such meetings of cognitive importance and expressed readiness to answer to their questions.

The Turkish journalists have said that representatives of different mass media of Turkey are included in the delegation, and they have arrived in Armenia on the initiative of “Hrant Dink” Foundation and they are aimed at supporting the democratization of Turkey, the Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and the establishment of dialogue between the two peoples. They have recorded that they are gladly surprised by the beauty of Yerevan and the level of Armenia’s development, and they have been convinced that the information they have about Armenia before do not correspond with truth.

In response to the journalists’ question if the priority for Armenia is the economic development, and how the state faces the economic crisis, Mr Sahakyan said that though Armenia could not avoid the consequences if economic crisis like other countries, but due to the economic policy implemented in the country the crisis had been overcome, and today Armenia has 4,6% economic growth. To his assessment, the development of the country is of very vital and important significance, as the people’s welfare is mainly conditioned by that, but Armenia also has not less important two problems: one is the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide by the world and first of all, by Turkey, which perpetrated it, and the other one is the international recognition of the independence of Nagorno Karabakh. According to him, the two are not an aim itself, and with respect to strengthening of the country are very important: in case of recognition and condemnation of the Genocide such anti-human phenomena will be prevented not only in the region, but also in the world, and the self-determination of the Nagorno Karabakh is the guarantee of the its people’s security and living free. “Thus, there are two important problems on Armenia’s political agenda: the reinforcement of the country and its economic development,” Galust Sahakyan noted.

At the journalists’ request, touching upon the Armenian-Turkish relations and the destiny of protocols connected with it, Mr Sahakyan has said that the problem of establishing normal relations with Turkey is on political agenda today, but it doesn’t mean that for the solution of that problem Armenia can make concessions in the issues of vital importance for it. The signed protocols do not contain any precondition with respect to establishing relations between the two countries, whereas Turkey began to speculate the Karabakh issue, trying to be led by the sale logic, which is unacceptable for Armenia.

Touching upon the denial of Turkey’s proposal of creating the historians’ commission in order to examine the reality of the Genocide, Galust Sahakyan said: “What does it mean to examine one thing, which is obvious: in this issue the political speculations are unacceptable. We are a living history,” Mr Sahakyan said, saying that because of Genocide only his father survived in the family.

Galust Sahakyan has also touched upon the interpellations concerning the parliamentary elections to be held on May 6, saying that the RPA highlights the holding of democratic elections, as it is the most important instrument of realization of human rights and freedoms, provision of the country’s vitality and its development.

The Head of the RPA faction also answered a number of the journalists’questions, which related to the programmes of the development of economy and prevention of emigration, the efforts of the Minsk Group member countries aimed at the Armenian-Azerbaijani relations, the political priorities adopted by the RPA and the possibility of its winning in the upcoming elections, the foreign policy pursued by Armenia and Turkey and the regional security.