1 / 3

On April 22, the Chair of the RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport Mkhitar Hayrapetyan met with the Minister of Youth and Sports in the Republic of Lebanon Vartine Ohanian. The NA deputies Lilit Stepanyan, Artur Manukyan and Hakob Aslanyan were present at the meeting.

Mkhitar Hayrapetyan thanked the Lebanese authorities for participating in the events dedicated to the 106^th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Emphasizing the centuries-old friendship between the two fraternal people, he noted that after the Genocide, the hospitable Lebanon became a second homeland for the homeland-deprived Armenians. “As a sign of gratitude, the Armenians made their contribution to different spheres of the political, cultural and social life of Lebanon. Being a full-fledged integrated citizen of that state, the Armenians preserve their identity and a national image,” Hayrapetyan said. He is convinced that both in difficult times and in bright future the two people will support each other.

Mkhitar Hayrapetyan highly assessed the balanced position of Lebanon on the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. He highlighted the proper assessment referred to the 44-day war unleashed by Azerbaijan. According to the deputy, the Armenian people always felt the support of friendly Lebanon.

In her turn, Vartine Ohanian underlined that the Armenian-Lebanese ties are due to the friendly relations established between the two people where the community of Lebanon plays a key role with its creative work.

The concrete programme cooperation, especially to the signing of a joint document of the cooperation at the executive level was touched upon. In this respect, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan assured that the committee headed by him in the framework of its competence is a reliable partner.

The speakers exchanged thoughts about education reforms, implementation of the programmes aimed at preserving the Armenian identity, strengthening cultural ties and the cooperation between Chess Federations.