YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 2, ARMENPRESS: Samvel Farmanyan, the leader of Armenia-Japan friendly group, group members Artsvik Minsyan, Manvel Grigoryan, Sedrak Saroyan and Levon Zurabyan had a meeting with the extraordinary and plenipotentiary Japanese Ambassador to Armenia Tikahito Harada on November 2. As Armenpress was informed from the Press and Media Relations Department of NA, greeting the Ambassador’s visit to the parliament, leader of the friendly group Farmanyan noted that the visit of Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan to Japan a few months ago had brought the relations of the two countries to a new level.

Members of Armenia-Japan friendly group hoped that interparliamentary relations of the states would develop and deepen as there were all the needed factors for that. Using the opportunity Samvel Farmanyan made an invitation for Japanese parliamentarian colleagues to visit Armenia which Tikahito Harada readily accepted.

Samvel Farmanyan expressed gratitude for the Japanese humanitarian aid with which Armenia was provided after the disastrous earthquake in 1988.

In his tern Japanese Ambassador thanked Armenian government for the kind treatment and support after devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

During the meeting interlocutors referred to the number of regional issues. Mr. Farmanyan highly evaluated Japan's balanced position on Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement and noted that the presence of Japanese Embassy would be very important from that viewpoint.

When speaking about NKR settlement issue Japanese Ambassador Tikahito Harada underlined that Japan supports the efforts of OSCE Minsk Group aimed to the peaceful solution of the conflict. The case of Gurgen Margaryan’s murder has been also discussed during the meeting, and Ambassador hoped that Armenia would restore the diplomatic relations with Hungary.