AWARD: Armenia parliament honours Cyprus MEP

The National Assembly of Armenia has awarded Cypriot MEP Eleni Theocharous, who was visiting Armenia last week, with the Medal of Honour for her support to the Armenian nation.

The medal was presented to Theocharous by the National Assembly President Galust Sahakyan “who praised her for her humanitarian action in difficult times for the people of Armenia”, a press release issued by the MEPs office said.
“Your humanitarian action is transferred on a political level, mainly in the European Parliament where you defend justice, democracy and the people of Armenia”, he told her.
On her part Theocharous said that she feels at home when she visits Armenia, adding that especially when in Nagorno Karabakh she feels the Armenian people’s struggle for freedom and has taken a lot from Armenians “above all how to become a better person”.
During her visit to Armenia, the Cypriot MEP had meetings with President Serzh Sargyan and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs Artak Zakaryan.
She briefed the Armenian officials on developments in Cyprus, including Turkey’s recent provocative actions by challenging the sovereignty of the Cyprus Exclusive Economic Zone where U.S., French, Italian, Korean and Israeli multinational companies are exploring for natural gas.
“Turkey occupies half of Cyprus and now wants to have its natural gas”, she said, adding that “we will resist”.
At the same time Theocharous also explained why Cyprus President Nicos Anastasiades decided last week to suspend his participation to the UN backed negotiations aiming to reunify the country.
President Anastasiades announced last Tuesday a decision to suspend his participation to the UN backed negotiations, following Turkey’s most recent violation of Cyprus’ sovereign rights in its EEZ and its decision to carry out a seismic survey in specific blocks, assigned to international companies within the Republic of Cyprus EEZ.