AZERBAIJAN TO ACCEPT BSEC PA ROTATING PRESIDENCY FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS
By Nana Petrosian
AZG Armenian Daily
09/06/2006
The 27th session of Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation is currently running in Yerevan with the participation
of 11 states (except for Serbia and Montenegro). In his greeting
speech President Robert Kocharian said: “Our countries face common
challenges of organized crime and terrorism.
Meanwhile it’s obvious that our nations strive for the European
integration. This means that we can unite our efforts for a large-scale
regional cooperation.”
“Economic cooperation of the region’s states and development of
communication infrastructures will create an atmosphere of trust thus
contributing to solving of regional problems,” parliament speaker
Tigran Torosian said in his opening speech. All participating
delegations agreed that the BSEC PA represents interests of
the entire region and is a good ground for fostering economic
relations, implementing joint economic projects and attracting new
investments. During the 6 months of running the BSEC PA presidency
Armenia took steps in direction of spurring economic cooperation
and strengthening legal foundation of the structure, Gagik Minasian,
head of the Armenian delegation to BSEC PA, and speaker Torosian said.
By the end of the session Armenia will hand over the rotating
presidency to Azerbaijan, representatives of which stated on June
7 that feel safe in Armenia and had a chance to get in touch with
the Armenians. Musa Guliev accompanied by deputy Samvel Nikoyan
visited his native home in a village of Sisian region. At any case,
the National Security Service provided the Turkish and Azerbaijani
delegations with special security guards.
Besides session-related questions journalists asked Turkish and
Azerbaijani delegates about the Nagorno Karabakh issue and Armenian
Genocide recognition thus transform the interview into an emotional
dispute.
Aside from this, the representatives of the not-so-friendly
states stressed the importance of economic cooperation. Turkish
deputy Mehmed Sevige avoided a direct answer to a question about
Kars-Akhalkalak-Tbilisi-Baku railway construction but emphasized that
his country’s Foreign Ministry and Communication Ministry are looking
into this issue and assured that a beneficial decision will be taken.
Georgia’s representative, Davit Saganelidze, said answering the same
question that if the two options are put on the table Georgia will
accept the one that includes Gyumri railway but disagreement of Turkey
and Azerbaijan can halt the project which is vital for the region.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
