PRESIDENT PAPOULIAS BEGINS VISIT TO ARMENIA

Athens News Agency, Greece
June 26 2007

President Karolos Papoulias began a three-day state visit to Armenia
on Tuesday with talks with Armenian President Robert Kocharian.

"Turkey should consider that it cannot pursue accession to the
European Union with an occupation force amounting to 35,000 in a
European Union member-state,(Cyprus)" President Papoulias said during
his meeting with President Kocharian.

"Both our countries border with Turkey and I believe that we share
the will for the strengthening of its democratic institutions.

Greece has supported the accession course of Turkey from the beginning,
because we deeply believe that the EU sets the framework of principles
and rules that necessitate respect for international law, respect
for democracy and the human rights of minorities.

However, we expect Turkey’s full compliance with all the criteria
and prerequisites of the EU concerning respect for human rights and
religious freedoms," the President of the Republic added.

Asked whether there is a question of Armenia joining the NATO
alliance, President Kocharian replied categorically that there is no
such question since, as he said, this would not serve his country’s
security.

Referring to the level of bilateral relations between the two
countries, President Kocharian thanked the Greek side for the many
programmes it is implementing in Armenia and in particular in the
sectors of defence and agriculture, while expressing the desire for
coooperation to be extended to other sectors as well.

Addressing the Armenian President earlier, President Papoulias
referred to the "martyred times that the two countries experienced
in the 20th century due to a common cause" and pointed out that "we
do not forget the (Armenian) genocide in 1915 and we are proud that
under the conditions prevailing at the time the Greeks were among
the few peoples who gave asylum to the Armenians."

President Papoulias also focused on the conflict between Armenians and
Azeris over Nagorno Karabakh, saying that Greece supports a peaceful
solution to differences.

"We believe that the framework of the Minsk Group of the OSCE is
the best for a solution to the problem and we believe that at the
present time conjuncture the involvement of any other agency would
be counter-productive," he said.

Greece, according to data revealed in the framework of talks, is
the third biggest investor in Armenia with about 214 million dollars
invested in capital, with Russia coming first and the United States
second.

As regards development aid provided by Greece over the period between
1997-2005, it amounted to 26.6 million dollars, while with the signing
of a bilateral strategic cooperation document in 2007 covering the
2008-2011 period, another 8 million dollars will be provided.

President Papoulias will be meeting with President Kocharian again
on Wednesday and afterwards with the prime minister. He will then be
planting an olive tree at the Armenian genocide monument and later on
he will be receiving representatives of the Greek community in Armenia.

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress