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On April 15 the Deputy Speaker of the RA National Assembly Eduard Sharmazanov had a meeting with the representatives of the Armenian community of Saint Petersburg. The NA deputy Hovhannes Sahakyan, the RA Consul General in Saint Petersburg Hrayr Karapetyan and the NA Permanent Representative to the IPA CIS Hayk Chilinigaryan also attended the meeting.

In the course of the meeting they touched upon the Armenian Genocide Centennial, the Armenian-Russian relations as well as a number of other issues.

The NA Deputy Speaker in particularly noted: “The Armenian community of Saint Petersburg has a history of several centuries. It had a big role and today it also has in the strengthening and development of the Armenian-Russian friendly relations.

Today, on the eve of the Armenian Genocide Centennial the realization of Motherland-Diaspora unity: only as a result of it, we can succeed to reach the solution of our all-national problems. The Turkish authorities, despising the appeals of the progressive mankind to recognize the Armenian Genocide, not only don't recognize and condemn it, but also at state level pursue denial policy. Taking into consideration all this, we should fight together not only to condemn the genocide, but also criminalize the Turkish denialism.

I think that as a consequence of our united struggle, such policy of Turkey, the number of countries criminalizing the denial of the Armenian Genocide will increase year by year.”

On the same day the Armenian MPs also visited St Katarine Armenian church of Saint Petersburg.