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On July 20, the Speaker of the RA National Assembly received the Member of the U.S. Congress House of Representatives Jim Costa.

Galust Sahakyan, welcoming the guest, has noted that he is glad to host the best friend of our country in the Parliament, who is from Fresno, where the American Armenian well-known writer William Saroyan was born and created. The Head of the Parliament has underlined that the United States of America is one of Armenia’s important counterparts and occupies a key place in political and economic life of Armenia.

Speaking about the parliamentary diplomacy, Galust Sahakyan has underlined that it is an important platform for the development of the inner-state relations and in this context has noted that Armenia attaches great importance to the development of the Armenian-American inter-parliamentary ties.

The Speaker of the National Assembly highly assessed the effective activities of the U.S. Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, the members of which always promoted the intensification of the relations between the Republic of Armenia and the United States.

Touching upon the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, Galust Sahakyan emphasized the U.S. continuous efforts as the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair country aimed at the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, the provision of peace and stability in the region.

Talking about the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, the Speaker of the National Assembly thanked the Congressmen, who had made all efforts through many years on voicing the necessity of the international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and expressed conviction that those efforts will certainly end with success.

Jim Costa, thanking the NA Speaker for the warm reception, noted that visiting Armenia had been his old dream. Regarding the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, he said: “As a member of the U.S. Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, I should take measures and efforts so that the Armenian Genocide is recognized and the genocides are not repeated anymore.” The guest expressed hope that the U.S. Congress will recognize the Armenian Genocide in the future .

Referring to the regional problems, Jim Costa expressed hope that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict will be settled at diplomatic plane and highlighted the participation of Artsakh in the negotiations.

The interlocutors expressed hope that similar visits will be continuous, directed at further expansion and activation of the inter-parliamentary ties.

At the end of the meeting the RA NA Speaker Galust Sahakyan awarded Jim Costa the RA NA Medal of Honor for his pro-Armenian activities.