SOUTH CAUCASUS TO HAVE ITS PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY

TBILISI, JUNE 17, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. According to a
memorandum signed in Tbilisi, the Parliamentary Assembly of the South
Caucasus will start its activities from January 1, 2007. According
to the RA National Assembly PR Department, at June 16 meeting of
the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative (SCPI) Presidency in
Tbilisi, alongside with the issue of the next plenary session as
well as some other issues, the further development of SCPI was also
discussed. Based on the results of the discussion, it was decided
to continue the SCPI activities by yet another stage, during which
each country will in turn assume the rotating Presidency every six
months. At the same time, the memorandum says that the delegations
of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia will put more efforts into making
SCPI a more efficient organization. Measures will be taken in order to
create an opportunity for transforming the South Caucasus Parliamentary
Initiative into the South Caucasus Parliamentary Assembly in January
1, 2007. The Secreatariate and Special Advisor of SCPI have been
instructed to submit to the Presidency, within 18 months, the draft
documents to regulate the powers and activities of the Parliamentary
Assembly. The memorandum was signed by the heads of the delegations
of the three countries. The Armenian delegation was composed of
the delegation head Tigran Torosian and Mher Shahgeldian. The NA PR
Department reminds that for quite long, the Armenian parliament and
its President Artur Baghdasarian were consistently supporting this
initiative as an important mechanism for ensuring the discussion of
regional problems. An agreement on this was reached at the meeting
of the RA National Assembly President Artur Baghdasarian and the
Georgian parliament’s President Nino Burjanadze in Tbilisi. Heads
of the European Union and the European Parliament expressed their
support for the creation of this organization during their meetings
with Artur Baghdasarian.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress