Sharmazanov: Explosion of Armenian church in Syria is cultural genocide

The Armenian parliamentary vice speaker Edward Sharmazanov who is on a working visit to Geneva met with the Lebanese delegation on October 14 during the 131st assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

E. Sharmazanov expressed his gratitude for the recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide by the Lebanese parliament in 2000 and for Lebanon’s balanced position on the Karabakh problem.

At the meeting Edward Sharmazanov strongly condemned the September 21 explosion of the Holy Martyrs Armenian Church in Deir ez-Zor, Syria, by terrorists. He called it a striking manifestation of cultural genocide.

The parliamentary vice speaker said the explosion of the Armenian church in Deir ez-Zor is a logical continuation of the destruction of tens of thousands of Armenian monuments in the territory of present-day Turkey.

The Lebanese side also condemned the terrorist act against the Holy Martyrs Armenian Church, noting that such actions have nothing to do with Islam.