The Azerbaijani side did not immediately explain the snub which was first reported by Simonian’s press secretary, Movses Harutiunian.
“The speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia will make an additional clarification about the reasons for the cancellation of the meeting after returning to Yerevan,” Harutiunian wrote on Facebook.
Gafarova and Simonian were scheduled to meet in Geneva on the sidelines of the latest session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union held there. A spokesman for the international organization said earlier that they will discuss regional peace efforts.
The Armenian and Azerbaijani speakers twice held talks in the Swiss city in March and May this year. Simonian’s office described the March meeting as “constructive.”
The cancellation of their fresh encounter was reported amid an apparent impasse in Armenian-Azerbaijani talks on a bilateral peace treaty. In recent weeks, Baku has repeatedly rejected an Armenian proposal to sign an interim agreement that would leave out the remaining differences of the two sides.
Later on Monday, Simonian met in Geneva with Turkish parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmus. Ankara has resumed direct contacts with Yerevan in recent weeks while continuing to link the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations to an Armenian-Azerbaijani settlement sought by Baku.