THE OIL FACTOR IS NOT IMPORTANT FOR BRITAIN
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[07:17 pm] 19 June, 2006
Today RA NA deputy president Vahan Hovhannisyan and RA Minister of
Education Levon Lazarian met Anthony John James Kentor, Ambassador
extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland to Armenia, and A. Page, deputy head of
the East administration of the Foreign Ministry.
Mr. Hovhannisyan mentioned that the coming Presidential elections will
depend on the Parliamentary elections. They must not be the touchstone
for the democratization of the country, thus the political powers must
spare no effort to avoid fabrications. He said that external factors,
particularly the blockade of Turkey and the non-constructive approach
of Azerbaijan towards the settlement of the Karabakh conflict affect
negatively the economic development of Armenia.
Asked by Mr. Page about the predictions about the settlement of the
conflict, Mr. Hovhannisyan informed that there were three offers within
the framework of the Minsk group which were accepted by Armenia but
turned down by Azerbaijan. Vahan Hovhannisyan considered the aim of
Azerbaijan to solve the problem by force taking into account the oil
factor and the indifference of the international community intolerable.
Mr. Page mentioned that several economic circles can link the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict to the oil factor, but that is not
the official approach of Great Britain and assured that the country
does everything to find a mutually acceptable peaceful solution for
the conflict.