ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS NATO CAN BE IMPORTANT TO PEACE IN SOUTH CAUCASUS REGION

The Associated Press
10/06/05 11:33 EDT

YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – NATO can be a key player in helping stabilize
the troubled southern Caucasus region that includes Armenia, the
country’s foreign minister said Thursday.

Speaking at a joint seminar of the parliament and representatives of
the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Vardan Oksanyan said “NATO can play
a large role in establishing peace in the south Caucasus and bring
countries of the region into peaceful dialogue.”

The region is troubled by tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia
over the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, and neighboring Georgia
is trying to bring two separatist regions back under the central
government’s control.

Armenia is a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization,
which includes Russia and four other ex-Soviet states. Russia has
troops based in Armenia, but Oksanyan said “at the same time we are
working closely with NATO.”