On February 19, RA Minister of Diaspora Hranush Hakobyan received Primate of the Armenian Diocese of Iraq, His Grace, Archbishop Avak Asadourian and Chairman of the National Central Department Melkon Melkonian.

Greeting the guests, the Minister attached importance to their pro-national activities and efforts for preservation of the Armenian identity, as well as their zealous attitude towards the solution to community- and church-related issues.

The participants of the meeting discussed the issues and challenges facing the community and touched upon the opportunity of having representative seats in the country’s parliament.

The Minister provided details about the initiatives aimed at helping Armenia’s economy grow, promoting investments and encouraging repatriation and suggested that the representatives of the Armenian community of Iraq participate in the program for support to Armenia’s borderline villages.

The guests expressed gratitude for the effective meeting, talked about their past activities and future plans and expressed willingness to participate in the “Support to Borderline Villages” movement launched by the Ministry of Diaspora.