Author: Kharatian Ani

TURKEY REFUSES US REQUEST FOR COMBAT TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN

Asbarez
Dec 3rd, 2009

ANKARA (Hurriyet)-Turkish troops in Afghanistan will not engage in
combat with the Taliban, Turkey’s defense minister and diplomats
emphasized on Thursday in reaction to the United States’ request for
extra soldiers for ‘flexible’ missions.

Ankara responded coolly late Wednesday to the United States’ request
for more Turkish forces to be deployed to Afghanistan as officials
emphasized the country’s policy of keeping its troops out of combat
in the war-torn country.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s call for NATO allies to dispatch more
soldiers came only days before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan is set to visit Washington.

Turkey increased its troops in Afghanistan by sending 958 more soldiers
last month, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said late Wednesday.

Noting Turkey’s reluctance to take part in armed clashes with the
Taliban, Gonul underscored "no shift in this policy."

"We maintain our reservations about Turkish troops’ involvement in
military operations and combat in Afghanistan," Gonul told reporters,
although U.S. Ambassador to Ankara James Jeffrey called for "more
flexibility" regarding job descriptions.

After wrapping up his talks in Jordan, Turkish President Abdullah
Gul also rejected the idea of Turks participating in combat missions
in Afghanistan.

"No doubt, our efficiency will increase, but we will decide how to
do so," Gul told reporters. "We do not want to be in a position of
fighting there."

Turkey took over command of the International Security Assistance
Force, or ISAF, in Kabul on Oct. 31. A total of 1,750 Turkish soldiers
are currently on duty in Afghanistan; four teams are engaged in
training missions.

Obama announced his decision to send 30,000 additional forces and asked
his NATO allies to contribute more to fight the Taliban militants. NATO
foreign ministers are expected to discuss the issue when they meet
in Brussels on Thursday and Friday.

In a written statement late Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry expressed
hopes that Obama’s new strategy would bring peace and stability to
war-torn Afghanistan and vowed to increase its contribution, but in
terms of "training and reconstruction works."

"As a close friend and ally, we indeed support the U.S. call on the
international community to contribute more," the statement read. "We
have been increasing our contributions in line with our long-term
commitments for Afghanistan."

"Obama is asking for combat forces who will engage in armed clashes.

But it is clear-cut that we do not have such an opportunity," a
diplomatic source noted Thursday.

In reaction to Jeffrey’s remarks, the source said: "We find his remarks
strange since the U.S. knows very well what our stance is. We have
not received an official proposal."

Turkey will increase its humanitarian efforts and training mission
to develop Afghan security forces, the ministry said. "As the
international community agrees today, military methods are not
enough to answer the existing problems in Afghanistan," it said
in its statement. "It is vital to support humanitarian efforts and
social-economic development projects in order to achieve peace and
stability."

"We’ve decided to widen our works by setting up a new provincial
reconstruction team in the near future," the ministry added.

Officials said that any involvement in armed clashes would be
counterproductive, noting that Turks are popular among locals thanks to
their non-military missions and that foreign officers sometimes carry
Turkish badges to help them feel more secure against possible attacks.

Turkey is hosting a tripartite summit that the Pakistani and Afghan
presidents will attend in order to try and solve security problems
and disputes between the two neighbors. The last one took place April
1, when Turkish President Abdullah Gul met his Pakistani and Afghan
counterparts, Asif Ali Zardari and Hamid Karzai, in Istanbul.

"We pay attention that the international community carries out civilian
and security missions to stabilize Afghanistan in maximum coordination
with Afghan and U.N. officials," the statement said.

European countries are generally reluctant to dispatch large numbers
of soldiers. Before promising any more troops, leaders are likely to
wait for an international conference on Afghanistan, which will take
place Jan. 28 in London.

Erdogan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug met Thursday in
a weekly routine meeting. No statement was released at the end of the
talks, which lasted for one hour and 40 minutes, but the U.S. request
for extra troops for Afghanistan was expected to be on the agenda.

The Supreme Military Council (YAS) will convene Friday to review the
country’s defense policy. The defense officials and army generals
are expected to discuss the Afghanistan mission.

A KEY FOR REGULATION IN NAGORNO-KARABAKH: THE MAIN TASK OF PARTICIPANTS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS IS PREVENTION OF THE CONFLICT ESCALATION
by Vladimir Kazimirov

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
December 2, 2009 Wednesday
Russia

OSCE NEEDS TO PRESSURIZE AZERBAIJAN TO PREVENT THREATS TO SOLVE THE
PROBLEM OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH BY FORCE; President of Azerbaijan Ilkham
Aliyev released direct threats to stop negotiations and to transit
to military resolving of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh two times.

Negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh regulation have been going for
more than 17 years but no end can be seen yet. Despite a number of
achievements in negotiations many contradictions remain. The conclusion
is simple: first of all, it is necessary to fully exclude a possibility
of restarting of hostilities for the years of negotiations.

President of Azerbaijan Ilkham Aliyev released direct threats to stop
negotiations and to transit to military resolving of the conflict in
Nagorno-Karabakh two times.

Negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh regulation have been going for more
than 17 years but no end can be seen yet.

Despite a number of achievements in negotiations many contradictions
remain. The conclusion is simple: first of all, it is necessary to
fully exclude a possibility of restarting of hostilities for the
years of negotiations.

A long way to go to a compromise yet

International organizations and intermediary countries demand that the
parties look for a compromise themselves. They appeal to the principles
beneficial for themselves (Azerbaijanis appeal to the territorial
integrity and Armenians appeal to the right for self-determination)
but this does not settle the dispute: in practical application these
principles differ obviously and other Helsinki principles are not
taken into account too. These are even the two principles that are
outlined exactly for the conflict situations: 1) peaceful resolving
of disputes; 2) non-use of forces and threats to use force.

The intermediaries, co-chairs of the Minsk OSCE group, also forgot
about these two principles. Recently, they started referring to non-use
of force but in a reduced form without mentioning of threats to use
force. What is it? A pardon for those who use threats and ignore
these two rules?

However, in Nagorno-Karabakh affairs the intermediary countries,
OSCE and international community should have their own priority, even
an ultimatum imperative, exactly complete ruling out of restarting
of hostilities.

A new war would collide already not semi-guerilla forces but well-armed
armies and would multiple victims and destructions.

Blitzkrieg is excluded

Approximate equality of forces excludes a blitzkrieg and unambiguous
victory. Even superiority of on of the parties may only shift the
frontline but will not yield the final solution of the conflict. Their
own losses and external pressure will return to the parties to the
table of negotiations. At the cost of huge losses they will find
themselves in a situation much worse than the current one.

There is also another important factor: the importance of Transcaucasia
in international geopolitics and the need for relieving of tension
there grew dramatically in the last 20 years. A new war would have
serious consequences for the entire region and for international
relations in general.

Third, this would be a moral collapse for the OSCE that has been
conducting negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh since 1992. Its potential
already causes questions and inability to defend its peacekeeping
mission and to prevent a war will devaluate the OSCE seriously.

Thus, catastrophic consequences are obvious

Co-chairs of the Minsk group of the OSCE speak against the threats,
acceleration of the arms race and dangerous incidents. In any case,
this is only a level of ambassadors and supreme structures of the
OSCE keep silent, do not use secret channels or, if necessary, public
channels to impact the countries.

Meanwhile, August of 2008 and Moscow declaration forced the belligerent
leaders to remains silent for some time. Officials in Baku abstained
from obvious belligerent calls leaving them to political scientists
and journalists until November of 2009 when Ilkham Aliyev turned
to threats again. This means that it is necessary to continue and
to increase pressure. It is high time for civil society of various
countries to declare calls for war an international crime.

Initiatives of intermediaries remain without attention

The OSCE does not provide for fulfillment of the only agreement
signed under its aegis according to the initiative of Russia, that is
agreement on settlement of incidents. Yerevan and Stepanakert called
for its observance frequently. Baku did not react to this for many
years, although President of Azerbaijan Geidar Aliyev approved the
document personally in 1995. Baku officials condemn Armenians daily
for breaching of the truce, sometimes in several places simultaneously,
or for deaths or injuries of civilians and servicemen.

If this is so, where are proposals of Baku regarding prevention of
incidents? There are no such proposals. Giving up of the initiative
of the intermediaries to remove snipers from the frontline positions
by Azerbaijan is also characteristic.

This contradicts the spirit and the essence of both agreements: on
the truce and on strengthening of the ceasefire regime. They do not
imply any exceptions for snipers.

There appears a paradoxical but very serious question: can all parties
observe the documents that they have signed?

In these circumstances it is quite natural to propose the same
agreement that has been rejected by Mikhail Saakashvili recently, that
is an agreement on non-use of force in resolving of the conflict. The
people who want revenge will hardly accept this proposal. In any
case, it is necessary to propose it to hinder the most belligerent
elements in the supreme authorities. It is surprising that the OSCE
has not done this yet. Refusal to sign such agreement would receive
an adequate characteristic in the history of the conflict and on
international arena.

It is high time to show that references of Baku to the right of
self-defense are not valid. This is parrying of an attack and not
re-playing of a war of 15 years ago. It is absurd to pose these
years as a voluntarily declared moratorium on use of the right for
self-defense and to pose the multi-faceted conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh
as an attack of one country on another.

Posing of 15 years of the truce as a big concession to Armenians is
another absurdity. Baku did not wish to cease the fire for a long time
but by May of 1994 it struggled for achievement of a truce itself to
prevent a full collapse.

Could Armenians take seven districts of Azerbaijani if Baku accepted
the proposal of Russia and the Minsk OSCE group to stop the hostilities
in 1992? Trying to win by force, Baku ignored these calls and even
the key requirement of the UN Security Council (for more than a
year). Azerbaijan did not wish to sign a truce and was losing a
district by district. It has not learned the lessons and unfounded
optimism again.

Demanding liberation of its land, Baku does not offer security
guarantees to Nagorno-Karabakh even now and even threatens to use
force.

RUSSIAN AND ARMENIAN VERSION ATTACHED
Contact Europe: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]

Contact Armenia: Robert Tatoyan
Mobile: +(374 94) 36 17 93
E-mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected]

Press Release
November 30, 2009

The European Union shuts eyes to the discriminatory policy of the Georgian
authorities towards the ethnic minorities

Open letter to Peter Semneby, EU Special Representative to the South
Caucasus countries, from the "Yerkir" Union of NGOs for Repatriation and
Settlement

Dear Mr. Semneby,

In the interview published in the Russian daily newspaper "Vremya Novostey"
on November 2, 2009 you, among other issues, touched upon the problems of
ethnic minorities of Georgia and, in that context, the problems of the
Javakheti Armenians, making the following observation: "The issues of
national minorities in Georgia are important. We must pay more attention to
them, than we – on our part, and the Georgian authorities – on theirs used
to. This is a difficult issue. … The problems there are largely social;
those are problems of economic development."

The very fact of your statement can be considered as positive, even if it is
only viewed from the standpoint of public recognition of the existing
problem by such a high-ranking official of the European Union. However, to
what extent does it reflect the real situation, reducing the problems of
Javakheti Armenians to only their socio-economic component?

Of course, the socio-economic component is present in the complex of the
problems of the Javakheti Armenians, but it does not occupy the central and
decisive position. The Armenian population of Georgia, and the part,
compactly inhabiting the south-western regions of the country in particular,
suffers from violation of their political, civil, cultural, educational and
religious rights, the rights that are guaranteed by numerous international
obligations undertaken by Georgia and aimed at protection of ethnic
minorities.

The main problems facing the Georgian and the Javakheti Armenians can be
summed up as follows:

– The Armenian population is disproportionately represented in the
administrative and governing bodies of the regions of their compact
residence;

– The Georgian authorities impose mandatory legislative and administrative
measures to compel the minorities in the places of their compact residence
to use exclusively the Georgian language in all spheres of public life,
although the vast majority of the Javakheti Armenians by objective
circumstances do not speak the language of the titular nation;

– The Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia has no legal status, and the
Georgian authorities refuse to return to it the Armenian temples,
confiscated during the Soviet era.

– The very fact that you avoided mentioning in your interview the existence
of these issues, which are far from being only socio-economic, becomes even
more bizarre, considering the fact that numerous reputable international
organizations have addressed the issue of discriminatory policy implemented
by the Georgian authorities towards the ethnic minorities in Georgia.

Thus, for example, the UN Human Rights Committee in its recommendations
adopted on October 16, 2007, proposes that the Georgian authorities take
steps to ensure freedom and equality of religion. The Committee recommends
that the Georgian authorities solve the problem of restitution of the
property, confiscated during the Soviet era to the religious minorities. The
Committee, expressing concern about the low level of political
representation of minorities, suggests that the Georgian authorities
implement measures to eliminate discrimination on the basis of language. To
this end, the Committee proposes to consider the possibility of allowing
minorities to use their own language at the level of local government and
administration and to take all appropriate measures to ensure adequate
political representation and political participation of ethnic minorities.

Serious shortcomings regarding the compliance of Georgia with the European
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities were
reflected in the report submitted in spring 2009 by the Advisory Committee
of the Council of Europe. The Advisory Committee recommends that the
Georgian authorities make sure that the policy of promoting the Georgian
language is not detrimental to the right of using the minority languages,
mentioning that this requires more resolute measures reflected both in law
and in practice. The experts of the Council of Europe, noting that national
minorities are underrepresented in the country’s political, cultural, social
and economic life, recommend that the Georgian authorities take vigorous
measures to remove legislative and practical obstacles the national
minorities come across, so that they can participate in the elected bodies
and in the executive, and work in the public service.

In addition to the above, authoritative international organizations in
2005-2009, the Public Defender of Georgia, a number of Western countries and
international organizations in their respective reports and statements
touched upon the various manifestations of the policy of violation of the
rights of the Armenian minority of Georgia, expressing their concern about
these facts.

The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan in his speech on September 1, 2009
also addressed the issues of concern of the Georgian and Javakheti Armenians
stating in particular that the logic of the policy towards Javakhk should
rest on the premise of "integration without assimilation", and that the
recognition of the Armenian as a regional language, the registration of the
Armenian Apostolic Church, the steps undertaken to protect the Armenian
monuments in Georgia will only strengthen the Armenian-Georgian friendship
and enhance the atmosphere of mutual trust and understanding.

However, the Georgian authorities ignore the recommendations of the
international community and continue implementing a discriminatory policy
towards the Javakheti Armenians. Moreover, in recent years this policy has
achieved the level of repressions against the Javakheti political activists
through law enforcement agencies and judicial authorities. During the period
of 2007-2009 as a result of direct and indirect pressure from the power
structures of Georgia dozens of political activists emigrated from
Javakheti, many were tried for fabricated criminal charges, some of them
"bought" their freedom at the cost of admission of guilt in their alleged
"crimes", others were tried in absentia and sentenced to various prison
terms.

On July 21, 2008 the Georgian Special Forces stormed the house and the
office of the prominent Javakheti political activist Vahagn Chakhalyan,
"found" weapons there and on this basis immediately arrested him as well as
his father and his under-age brother. Later on Vahagn Chakhalyan was charged
with "organizing and active participation in activities that disrupt public
order" and "hooliganism"- charges solely based on his political activities
in 2005-2006, when the Armenian population through demonstrations and
protests put forth their legitimate claims to honor their linguistic and
educational, socio-cultural and religious rights.

On April 7, 2009, as a result of proceedings accompanied by flagrant
violations, the Javakheti political activist was sentenced to 10 years’
imprisonment in the Court of First Instance. On October 30, 2009 the Court
of Appeals upheld the verdict intact.

This retaliatory act by the Georgian authorities against Vahagn Chakhalyan
has caused wide public resonance in Armenia and in the Diaspora. A number of
Armenian non-governmental organizations, international human rights
institutions, European parliamentarians have adopted statements and taken
other steps aimed at protection of the rights of the Javakheti Armenian
activist. On April 14, 2009 the Coordination Council of Armenian
Organizations of France held a protest demonstration before the Georgian
Embassy in Paris against this unjust sentence; two days after this action
Vahagn Chakhalyan was severely beaten in prison.

Meanwhile, Georgia is a member of the "The European Neighborhood Policy" and
"Eastern Partnership" EU programs and through them the country receives
substantial financial assistance. At the same time Georgia openly violates
the basic human rights and the rights of ethnic minorities. Under the
circumstances, by ignoring the existing problems the EU actually authorizes
the Georgian authorities to continue their discriminatory policy towards
their ethnic minorities, authorizes new manifestations of police repressions
in the Armenian-populated areas, and authorizes new irresponsible acts that
deepen day by day the mood of fear, frustration and alienation in the
Armenian-populated regions of Georgia. Thus, the European Union
involuntarily assumes the role of an accomplice of the Georgian authorities,
sharing the responsibility for a possible aggravation of the situation.

Dear Mr. Semneby,

Based on abovementioned facts, we call upon You to take more decisive and
effective stance in this issue in order to "explain" to the Georgian
authorities that the communication with the Armenian citizens of their
country from the position of rude force, police repression and deprivation
of rights leads to a deadlock, and only through recognition, effective
protection and enjoyment of fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals
and minorities, as well as the actual planting of democratic procedures is
it possible to create stable guarantees for the development of the country.

We firmly believe, that only by exercising principled position with respect
to these issues is it possible to help the Georgian authorities in creating
a functioning democratic system, which will be the real guarantee of
stability for the country and the entire South Caucasus region as a whole.

Yerkir Union

DAVUTOGLU AGAIN LINKS PROTOCOLS AND KARABAKH CONFLICT

Aysor
Dec 2 2009
Armenia

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu fresh from the meeting with
his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar Mamedyarov on Tuesday in Athens
said the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocol is possible
only after liberation of former Azerbaijani territories, Russian
media reported citing the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan.

"Davutoglu said to settle the Armenian-Azerbaijani and Karabakh
conflicts is important for providing the region with safety and peace,
and noted that ratification and implementation of the Armenian-Turkish
protocols is possible only after the liberation of Armenian-occupied
Azerbaijani territories," said in statement.

Elmar Mamedyarov and Ahmet Davutoglu have discussed the current
situation in negotiations and talks on Karabakh, shared views on
items of Azerbaijani-Turkish relations, situation in Afghanistan,
and some others. Ahmet Davutoglu invited his Azerbaijani counterpart
to visit Turkey.

NKR FOREIGN MINISTRY SENDS NA STATEMENT TO OSCE

PanARMENIAN.Net
30.11.2009 16:13 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Nagorno
Karabakh Republic addressed the OSCE a statement adopted by NKR
National Assembly on November 25.

A letter with similar contents was sent to OSCE Chairman-in-Office
George Papandreou, with a copy addressed to his personal
representative, ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk.

NKR National Assembly adopted the statement considering Baku’s
aggressive policy in the process of Azerbaijani-Karabakh conflict
settlement.

Multinational Georgia celebrates its 10th jubilee
29.11.2009 15:43 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Multinational Georgia NGO is celebrating its 10th
jubilee. The organization unites representatives of all ethnic,
religious and language group residing in Georgia. It also contributes
to ethnic groups’ active involvement in processes both on central and
regional level.

Multinational Georgia is an EU partner organization. On this occasion,
Tbilisi will host celebrations to be attended by international and
local NGO representatives, governmental organizations, as well as
diplomatic representations accredited to Georgia, Civil.ge reports.

DASHNAK PARTY NOT HAPPY WITH RUSSIAN POLITICS

The Messenger
Nov 26 2009
Georgia

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (‘Dashnak’) Armenian Parliament
faction has said that Russia is playing a game very dangerous for
Armenia. Chairman of the faction Vahan Hovhannesian thinks that
this will affect the resolution of the Karabakh problem as well as
Armenian relations.

Hovhannesian said that the mediators in the Karabakh conflict
are trying to impose many concessions on Armenia to facilitate
the ratification of the Armenian-Turkish protocols in the Turkish
Parliament. He expressed assurance that the Turkish Parliament will not
ratify these protocols unless Ankara achieves its goals in Karabakh.

Dashnak Party members have many times highlighted the threat from
Russia, in particular in the direction of Turkish-Armenian relations.

Hovhannesian insists that Armenia should be very careful and ask its
strategic partner Russia to meet all its commitments.

CHAIRMAN OF UNION OF ARMENIAN COMMODITY PRODUCERS BLAMES DWINDLING MACROECONOMIC INDICES ON POOR HANDLING OF INVESTMENTS

ARKA
Nov 27, 2009

YEREVAN, November 27, /ARKA/. Chairman of the Union of Armenian
Commodity Producers, Vazgen Safarian, blamed today Armenia’s dwindling
macroeconomic indices on poor handling of investments.

According to the official figures of the country’s National Statistical
Service, Armenia’s GDP fell by 17.5% in January-October, 2009. The IMF
and World Bank have predicted a 12%-15% full-year economic contraction
for 2009, while the government says it will make 15%.

Speaking at a news conference Vazgen Safarian said the Union of
Commodity Producers had repeatedly asked the government to channel
a sizeable portion of the $500 million Russian stabilization loan
into boosting small and medium-sized businesses and the industrial
sector which would allow to retain industrial production rates and
preserve jobs, however the government directed a sizable part of the
loan to the construction sector, which despite the government support,
failed to get back on recovery track.

According to him, production of cement, construction stone and road
metal has slashed. He also said industrial export is expected to drop
by 40% from 2008 to $600-620 million.

According to the official figures, Armenian foreign trade in
January-October fell by 31% from a year before to 1.1 trillion Drams
of $3.2 billion. Exports plunged by 41% to $551.6 million and imports
fell by 28.5% to $2.7 billion.

According to Safarian, the government should implement radical economic
reforms and stimulate domestic production to help the economy out of
the crisis.

AZERBAIJAN HOLDS TWICE AS MANY MANOEUVRES AS ARMENIA – MILITARY EXPERT

news.az
Nov 25 2009
Azerbaijan

Uzeyir Jafarov Azerbaijani military expert Uzeyir Jafarov does not
expect a resumption of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan,
although he believes that the Azerbaijani army is stronger.

Jafarov commented to 1news.az on remarks in Yerevan by Nikolai
Bordyuzha, secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty
Organization. Bordyuzha hoped that talk of a possible resumption of
hostilities by Azerbaijan was no more than an attempt to encourage
agreement with Armenia on Karabakh.

Uzeyir Jafarov said that everyone realizes that Armenia is protracting
the liberation of Azerbaijani lands and Baku cannot wait for Yerevan
to make up its mind. Armenia understands that sooner or later they
will have to quit the occupied Azerbaijani land and are trying to
bargain with this, Jafarov said.

"I think there will not be a war but after the Munich meeting
Azerbaijan is toughening its position, an important component of which
is the military and political factor. I am surprised when I read in
the Armenian, and especially in our, press that ‘the Armenian army is
holding exercises on the front line’. This is ridiculous, especially
for those who know what ‘military exercises’ held by the Armenians
mean. The end of the year is approaching and the Armenian side must
report to their masters about the arms and equipment supplied, so
they hold so-called ‘exercises’ in order to write off the military
equipment and ammunition that have been stolen and sold," Jafarov said.

The Azerbaijani army holds twice as many exercises on a much larger
scale than the Armenians, who drive a couple of rusty tanks and petrol
tankers along the front line, he concluded.

ARMENIAN, TURKISH SPEAKERS MEET IN MOSCOW

Aysor
Nov 24 2009
Armenia

Speaker of Armenia’s Parliament Hovhannes Abrahamyan met with his
Turkish counterpart Mehmet Ali Sahin yesterday in Moscow, Parliament’s
press office reports.

The parties spoke about last developing in process of reconciliation.

Mr. Abrahamyan stressed that Armenian side considers it necessary to
ratify Armenian-Turkish protocols in reasonable time. The parties have
praised joint work done by Armenian and Turkish Presidents and said
those works created a good basis for establishing friendly relations
between the two peoples.

"The parties agreed to encourage direct contacts between people and
said is necessary to try to establish relations between Parliaments.

The two sides have highly praised the meeting and expressed hope that
reasons for new meetings will appear," said spokesman.