THE CZECHS GOT ACQUAINTED WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF THE COALITION

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[03:58 pm] 19 June, 2006

On June 19 the members of the NA Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations met the delegation of the Standing Committee on Foreign
Relations, Defense and Security of the Senate of the Czech
Republic. The delegation is in Armenia on official visit.

Member of the Committee Yaromir Shtetina mentioned that on the
initiative of the Armenian community of the Czech Republic and with the
support of former President of the country Vatslav Havel a conference
was organized in the Senate two months ago about the 1915 Armenian
Genocide. The delegate voiced hope that in autumn the Czech Senate
will adopt an announcement about recognizing the Armenian Genocide.

Asked by the Czech side if there are positive changes in connection
with the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, if the Minsk group
has exhausted itself and if there is a need for a new format, Armen
Roustamyan answered that there is no need for a new format as the OSCE
Minsk group has been engaged in the settlement of the issue since 1992,
is deeply aware of anything connected with the conflict and has made
three valuable offers during the past eight years.

As for why there is no progress in the negotiation process, according
to Mr. Roustamyan, in contrast to Armenia, the Azeri side turns down
all the offers and refuses to sign any documents.

At the guests’ request Mr. Roustamyan referred to the relations
between the EU and Turkey and between Armenia and Turkey mentioning
that Armenia has expressed its readiness to start relations
with Turkey without any preconditions, but the Turkish side keep
putting forward preconditions including those in the context of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani relations.

The Czech side added that the negotiations of Turkey about membership
in the EU will continue at least 10-15 more years.

During the meeting the perspectives of the development of the relations
of the countries and other issues of mutual interest were discussed.