Dp-news – Sana Damascus- President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday discussed with Chairman of the National Assembly of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan the historical relations binding the two countries and their peoples and the growing progress of these relations witnessed particularly after the visit of President al-Assad to Armenia in 2009 and that of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan to Syria in early 2010. Talks during the meeting dealt with the parliamentary cooperation between both countries and the necessity of further activating it in light of the relations binding the two peoples, in addition to the importance of activating the agreements not yet implemented. Discussions also touched upon the developments in the Middle East and the Caucasus regions, particularly the halted peace process due to the Israeli policies, and the latest developments regarding the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh region. Speaker of the People's Assembly Mahmoud al-Abrash, Presidential Political and Media Advisor Bouthaina Shaaban, the Armenian Ambassador in Damascus and the delegation accompanying Abrahamyan attended the meeting. In the same context, Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri discussed with Abrahamyan cooperation and friendship relations between Syria and Armenia and the prospects of expanding them in the economic, cultural and social fields. In a statement to SANA, Abrahamyan said that his country highly appreciates President al-Assad's role which has contributed to enhancing the bilateral relations, indicating that Syria has provided different kinds of help and support to the Armenian people from more than 30 years. He added that the standing close relations between Presidents al-Assad and Sargsyan will help in consolidating cooperation between the two countries in all domains, stressing the readiness of the National Assembly of Armenia to do everything possible to beef up the relations between the two peoples and countries. In June 2009, President al-Assad visited Armenia and discussed with President Sargsyan the bilateral relations and the issues of interest for the Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus regions, stressing the desire for building more solid relations serving the best interests of the two friendly peoples and countries. During the visit of the Armenian President to Syria last March, the two countries signed nine cooperation agreements and memos of understanding in the domains of justice, interior, higher education, scientific research, industry, electricity, renewable energies, sport and remote sensing, in addition to an executive program on scientific and technical cooperation in agriculture for the years 2010/2012.

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