On June 15, the RA NA Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs Taguhi Tovmasyan met with the delegation led by the OSCE PA President Margareta Cederfelt being in Armenia on a working visit. The members of the RA NA delegation to OSCE PA Lilit Galstyan (Armenia Faction) and Anna Mkrtchyan (With Honor Faction) took part in the meeting.
Welcoming the guests’ visit to our country, Taguhi Tovmasyan expressed her gratitude to Margareta Cederfelt for responding to her letters, where she also touched upon the problems of Artsakh and the rights of Artsakh Armenians. Speaking about the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, she considered concerning the infiltration of the Azerbaijani armed forces into the sovereign territory of the Republic of Armenia. The Committee Chair drew the guests’ attention to the problem of the protection of the rights of the residents of the border communities, noting that they are periodically violated by the Azerbaijanis. Highlighting the establishment of peace in the region, at the same time she considered unacceptable the imposed peace and added that sufficient efforts are made in that direction. Taguhi Tovmasyan emphasized the practical support of the international community in the solutions of the problems.
The MPs of the opposition factions referred to the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh (NK), opining that the conflict is not solved yet. The importance of the exercise of the right to self-determination of the Artsakh people and the Artsakh Armenians living free and secure in their homeland was stressed. In this context a reference was made to non-active activities of the OSCE Minsk Group Chairmanship format. The issue of the protection of the rights of the persons displaced as a consequence of the 44-day war and in this respect the role of the OSCE was underlined.
The MPs gave details about the inner-political problems of our country. They noted that in the recent period during the assemblies organized by the opposition cases of violation of human rights and freedom of speech were carried out.
The sides also related to the role of the European Union in the NK conflict settlement, the OSCE PA assistance format in the democratic processes, steps aimed at strengthening of democratic structures in our country and other issues.