ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN MEETS WITH POLISH SEIM CHAIRMAN AND AGO GROUP NEW HEAD

ARMENPRESS
May 23, 2008

YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS: On May 22 Armenian parliament chairman
Tigran Torosian met in Strasbourg with Bogdan Borusewitsz, chairman
of Poland’s Seim, who according to the parliament press office, once
again congratulated Torosian on the occasion of successful elections
in Armenia and reaffirmed the official invitation sent to Torosian
to visit Warsaw.

Borusewitsz was quoted by the parliament press office as saying that
the interest in the Caucasus is growing not only in Poland but in
the European Union as well.

While speaking about March 1 events in Armenia the Polish official
emphasized that the situation in Armenia has stabilized. He also
expressed hope that the Armenian parliament will eliminate restrictions
on holding mass gathering and all arrested people who did not commit
grave crimes on March 1-2 will be set free.

Bogdan Borusewitzs also reconfirmed Poland’s position on the basic
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict through negotiations.

For his part Tigran Torosian presented the details of March 1-2 events
saying that the parliament has set up an ad hoc commission for a
thorough inquiry into these events. Torosian said that all those who
committed grave crimes on March 1-2 will be held accountable and no
one will be prosecuted or persecuted for his or her political views.

He recalled that ten people were killed in the clashes between
opposition demonstrators and security forces and hundreds received
different injuries.

On May 22 Tigran Torosian met also with Stellian Stoyan, the new head
of the Council of Europe Ago Monitoring Group, who visited Yerevan
twice with Ago Group. At his request Tigran Torosian presented what
Armenian authorities are doing to implement the conditions listed in
the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly’s (PACE) resolution 1609.

Tigran Torosian again reiterated that all people who committed
grave crimes on March 1-2 will be held accountable. On May 22 Tigran
Torosian also delivered a speech at the meeting of the Council of
Europe’s parliament heads.

On May 23 Tigran Torosian was expected to meet also with PACE chairman
Louis Maria de Piugi.