Azerbaijani, Armenian and Georgian parliament speakers to meet in Istanbul

Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan said that he will hold meetings with his Azerbaijani and Georgian counterparts, Sahiba Gafarova and Shalva Papuashvili, during the 152nd Inter-Parliamentary Union Assembly, which will take place in Istanbul, Türkiye.

The Armenian Parliament Speaker will lead a delegation to Türkiye from 16-19 April to participate in the 152nd IPU Assembly.

“Speakers of parliaments from many countries will be present there. At this stage, meetings are scheduled with my counterparts from Azerbaijan and Georgia,” Simonyan said.

The speaker said that he maintains “very good and respectful” relations with his Russian counterpart, Valentina Matviyenko, and that the main reason for phoning her on April 7 was to convey birthday greetings.

"We always speak openly and directly, within a framework of mutual respect," Simonyan said.

According to him, in a few days, he will be traveling to Istanbul, and Valentina Matviyenko will also be there.

"I assume we will interact there. This is not about an official meeting, but simply about informal interaction,” Simonyan said.