Mediamax News Agency, Armenia
May 11 2007

Spokeswoman for OSCE/ODIHR stated that the refusal to receive Turkish
observers `evidences the insufficient transparency of the
pre-election campaign in Armenia’

Yerevan, May 11. /Mediamax/. Spokeswoman of the OSCE Office for
Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) stated that the
refusal to receive the Turkish observers `evidences the insufficient
transparency of the pre-election campaign in Armenia’.

Mediamax reports that the OSCE ODIHR Spokeswoman Urdur Gunnarsdottir
said:

`The very fact of refusing to receive the observers evidences the
insufficient transparency of the pre-election campaign. This is a
violation of an important principle of OSCE in the practice of
observation for the elections. As, inviting one observer, you also
invite the representatives of all the 55 member-states of OSCE’.

At the same time, Urdur Gunnarsdottir stated, the decision of Yerevan
will not bring about sanctions from the part of OSCE.

`In such cases, OSCE does not provide for applying sanctions. As the
aim of our organization is to assist holding elections and send
observers; this is a political task and not a legal one. I cannot
tell what the consequences of this step will be for Armenia, but it
is definite that there will not be sanctions applied by the OSCE’,
the Spokeswoman for the OSCE ODIHR stated in an interview to the
`Deutsche Welle’ radio.

Mediamax reminds that on May 9 the Spokesman of the Armenian Foreign
Ministry Vladimir Karapetian commented on the refusal of the official
Yerevan to grant visas to eight representatives of Turkey, who were
going to observe the parliamentary elections in Armenia on May 12
within the OSCE Mission.

`Turkey maintains a closed border with Armenia and refuses to
establish diplomatic relations. Under these circumstances, to expect
to send observers is a bit disingenuous’, Vladimir Karapetian stated.

According to him, `Armenia regrets that Turkey did not demonstrate
sensitivity in relation to its citizens-representatives participating
in the OSCE observer mission to Armenia, given the absence of
relations between our two countries’.

`Turkey cannot choose and select which kinds of political relations
it wishes to have with Armenia, and which it does not wish to have.
Political and diplomatic relations are not entered into selectively’,
Vladimir Karapetian stated.

`Armenia understands the concern of OSCE members regarding Armenia’s
OSCE commitments, and reaffirms that we remain faithful to those
commitments. But we expect that participating states will also expect
Turkey to adhere to its commitments to engage in normal, neighborly
relations with Armenia’, the official representative of the Armenian
Foreign Ministry stated.–0–