June 16, the Republic of Artsakh National Assembly held an official opening ceremony of the third forum of the Armenian parties which was attended by representatives of the parties and blocks, presented at the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia as well as major non-parliamentary political parties and parliamentary and extra-parliamentary political forces of the Republic of Artsakh.

The official opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan, Chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ara Babloyan, Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, the Head of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Opening the forum, President of the Artsakh Republic National Assembly Ashot Ghoulyan noted that holding of the regular forum of the Armenian parties shows that it was possible to implement the goal to periodically call a meeting of political forces in Artsakh which was stated five years ago.

Armen Ashotyan, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on Foreign Relations presented the welcoming message of the President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan to the participants of the forum which reads as follows:

"In our political culture, we need to rely on the following principle: the pluralism prevailing in the political arena is not at all an obstacle to holding discussions and finding solutions to the complex challenges that we face. I appreciate the fact that this time one of the organizers of the event is the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh. I am confident that this format can play an important role in the development of the Armenian political culture."

President of the Republic of Artsakh, Bako Sahakyan welcomed the participants and stressed the importance of such political conferences between the political circles of the two Armenian states.

"Such political forums are a good platform from the point of view of strengthening state building in Armenia, the Motherland-Diaspora ties, regional development and discussing of various issues related to world and a deeper understanding of them," Bako Sahakyan noted.

Ara Babloyan, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, also wished the participants of the forum fruitful work.

"The inter-party constructive cooperation further increases the potential and opportunities that separate political forces of Armenia and Artsakh have. Only thanks to joint efforts it is possible to turn existing challenges into new opportunities in order to ensure the security and development of relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh, " Ara Babloyan said.

Then, a blessing speech of the Archbishop Pargev Martirosyan, leader of the Artsakh Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church was addressed to the forum participants.

Representatives of 14 parties from Armenia, and 6 parties from Artsakh take part at the forum.

The organizers of the inter-party forum are the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh and the Republican Party of Armenia.

The forum will continue on June 17 and will end on June 18.