ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
November 5, 2004 Friday

Armenia says ready to deepen relations with NATO

By Tigran Liloyan

YEREVAN

Armenia is ready to deepen relationship with NATO, President Robert
Kocharian said here Friday as he received visiting NATO Secretary
General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.

Kocharian made known his personal conviction that the visit would be
useful for future cooperation, the presidential press said.

Armenia recently broadened the format of contacts with NATO, he said,
adding: “We already have an envoy to the alliance and are seeking a
greater role in a range of its programs”.

De Hoop Scheffer said NATO had positive relations with Armenia and
stressed the importance of this country’s participation in certain
programs.

Kocharian also presented Armenia’s angle of view at the prospects of
settling the dragged-out conflict in Nagorny Karabakh, a region of
Azerbaijan with a predominantly Armenian population where tensions have
persisted since 1987.