ANKARA: Canada approves Armenian draft

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
April 23 2004

CANADA APPROVES ARMENIAN DRAFT

Canadian House of Commons adopted the decision which recognizes
so-called Armenian genocide. In spite of objections of Canadian
Foreign Minister, the decision was adopted with 153 votes against 68
votes. Ankara harshly condemned the decision. Foreign Ministry stated
that the responsibility of the decision belonged to Canadian
politicians.

April 23 2004

RUSSIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES FRENCH SENATORS

MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti) – Vyacheslav Trubnikov, Russia’s First
Deputy Foreign Minister, received, Friday, a visiting delegation of
the French Senate’s foreign affairs and defence commission.

The agenda of the meeting was dominated by issues related to
cooperation within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS),
which is a priority direction in Russia’s foreign policy, reported
the foreign ministry.

The delegates were updated on the efforts Russia has been making to
promote economic ties with the CIS countries, step up integration
processes in different areas, and Russia’s bilateral relations with a
series of CIS nations.

The conferees also discussed the situation in Central Asia and
Transcaucasia, the Nagorny Karabakh and the Dniester region
settlement efforts. They also discussed further developments in
Afghanistan, particularly in terms of the fight against drug
trafficking. Apart from that, the conferees addressed the problem of
the Caspian Sea’s status.