VIDEO. I Had the Impression That Every Second Woman or Girl Has Been Raped: Sharmazanov

The Istanbul Convention did not make it to the agenda of the National Assembly during the rule of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), and it was not relevant. This was stated today, July 5, in a conversation with reporters by former Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Edward Sharmazanov.

"The Istanbul Convention did not make it to the agenda of the National Assembly during the RPA era; it was not discussed. Yes, it was signed, just like many EU countries signed it but did not ratify it. Neither Great Britain nor Greece, nor Croatia, nor Latvia, nor Lithuania has ratified it. Perhaps we ratified it to declare our commitment as a state against violence, but we developed a legislative package against domestic violence; by the way, the preliminary package was a disgrace, and with our partners from the ARF and the BHK, we managed to correct the initially disgraceful version. We adopted the law on domestic violence, taking into account our national peculiarities, and if the Istanbul Convention is ratified, that law will be null and void," he stated.

Sharmazanon is confident that the ratification of the Istanbul Convention would be a disgrace. "When they say it was during your time, it did not enter the National Assembly during our time; also, everything that was correct during our time is now under your authority, so make sure it is not ratified. During our time, ministers did not start a campaign praising the Istanbul Convention," he added.

Watch the video on News.am.