Author: Badalian Vardan

FRANCE AIMS TO BOLSTER EU’S SWAY

The Associated Press
May 26, 2008

BRUSSELS: Bolstering Europe’s influence on the world stage – and
especially on the new American administration – will be the top
priority for France when it takes over the presidency of the European
Union in July, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner of France said Monday.

Kouchner said France wanted to promote efforts to create a common
EU defense policy and to work closely with Washington, once a
new U.S. president is elected, on issues like peace in the Middle
East. France will take over the EU’s six-month rotating presidency from
Slovenia on July 1, and a new American president will be inaugurated
in January.

"The American election offers a historic opportunity," Kouchner
told a gathering of diplomats and EU officials, to offer the new
administration "an agenda, a road map, that will correspond to
our priorities, our understanding of how to solve crises and find
solutions together."

He said a more effective EU foreign policy was needed, backed by better
and more effective cooperation on defense policies. "Our objective
is to put in place credible civil and military defense capacities
and means," Kouchner said.

EU nations had to overcome past problems in raising enough peacekeepers
to fill promised missions to Chad. "We learned difficult lessons when
we had to assemble 3,000 men for Chad," Kouchner said.

Today in Europe Health care fees trouble Eastern EuropeRussian jet
shot down Georgian spy drone, UN saysU.S. courts the support of
French Muslims There were problems in mustering enough soldiers from
EU nations to protect refugees who were flooding into Chad from the
Darfur region of neighboring Sudan. The EU mission also was hampered
by a shortage of helicopters and airplanes.

Similarly, EU nations have hesitated to participate in a joint police
training mission in Afghanistan.

Kouchner said the 27-nation bloc stood at a crossroads where it had
"to define renewed ambitious goals" to better the lives of Europeans,
notably in implementing the club’s new governing treaty, which is
currently being ratified by EU nations.

The Lisbon Treaty, signed last year in Portugal, aims to streamline
the way the bloc makes decisions and bolster its powers in such areas
as immigration and fighting crime. It also aims to make the EU’s
foreign policy more effective with the creation of an EU president
and a single envoy to represent the bloc abroad.

As EU president, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France will be
responsible for getting EU leaders to fill new posts created
by the treaty and setting up a new joint EU diplomatic corps in
Brussels. Kouchner said France aims to have posts filled before the
planned entry into force of the new treaty on Jan. 1, 2009.

France also aims to address growing fears that globalization spells
bad news for manufacturing and other industry jobs across Europe,
Kouchner said, as China and other emerging Asian economic powers
attract more industry from overseas.

Kouchner said investing more in innovation, research and technology
is key to economic growth. He said EU nations must also agree on a
common immigration policy, which could bring in more high-skilled
workers to fill increasing job openings.

In another development Monday, Poland and Sweden sought support from
other EU nations for a new outreach program to build closer ties with
Ukraine and the EU’s other former Soviet neighbors to the east.

The plan would go beyond the EU’s current "neighborhood policy,"
which groups East European countries like Ukraine and Belarus with
nations in North Africa and the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski of Poland said it was important
to make a distinction because the easterners are European nations
who could one day apply to join the EU. Poland and Sweden presented
the plan at a meeting of EU foreign ministers.

Russia was not included in the Polish-Swedish plan, but the EU
approved plans Monday to begin negotiations with Moscow on a new
cooperation agreement, which had been long delayed because of Polish
and Lithuanian objections.

"We are trying to normalize our relations with Russia," Sikorski
said before the EU talks. But he predicted the talks with Russia
would be tough, particularly over sensitive issues such as energy
and human rights.

Poland, which joined the EU in 2004, is concerned about instability on
its eastern borders as former Soviet countries are squeezed between
Russia and the West. With older EU nations wary about offering
membership to the likes of Ukraine, Poland is seeking other means to
draw the easterners close to the Western bloc.

Foreign Minister Carl Bildt of Sweden said the plan would aim to
forge closer ties with countries that are of "fundamental importance
for all of Europe," including Moldova, Belarus and nearby Caucasus
nations like Georgia and Armenia.

"We think its time to look to the east to see what we can do to
strengthen democracy," Bildt said.

The Polish-Swedish plan includes easing visa restrictions on countries
to the east, closer cooperation on environmental issues and freeing
up trade.

AZERBAIJANI OPTION OF THE SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
LILIT POGHOSYAN

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on May 24, 2008
Armenia

The Conference `Caucasus-2007′ hold in `Tigran Metz’ hall of
`Armenia-Marriott’ hotel, initiated by Caucasian Institute of Mass
Media finished its work yesterday and summed up the results of the
discussion.

Editor-in-chief of Azerbaijani `3rd Opinion’ Informational-Analytical
Agency Rauf Rajabov who was participating in the conference, met with
the journalists at the end of the discussions.

`In my view the settlement of the conflict is not in shuttle diplomacy,
political compromises or military confrontation, but rather in free
economic rivalry, mutually beneficial cooperation and the field of
general interests on integration plane. Economy is the axle, which
unites the conflicting parties.

Market economy means free movement of the capital and the people,
whereas political compromise is trade. Which means, instead of mutual
concessions the two sides must compete to substantiate their arguments,
to see whose scale is heavier and who will suffer less loses in this
`trade’.’

Last year we passed a law, according to which 4 free economic zones
must be established in Azerbaijan. Karabakh can have similar status by
the time the issue of its final status is solved. It can be done by a
referendum, but with one condition – the representatives of Azerbaijani
community, those who have once fled their dwelling places, must also
participate in the referendum.

But for that these people must naturally return to Karabakh and live
side by side with Armenian people, in the format of a free economic
zone. I’m sure it will give an opportunity to overcome all the
psychological obstacles that hinders the establishment of friendly
relations between Armenian and Azerbaijani people.’

`Azerbaijani government refuses any type of cooperation with Armenia,
unless Karabakh issue is solved in the framework of Azerbaijan’s
territorial integrity. Do you think Azerbaijan is ready to give the
status of `free economic zone’ to Karabakh?’

`What I mean is firstly the demilitarization of the conflicting zone.
It is not a secret that Armenian military subdivisions (30 thousand in
number) are located in the occupied territories. These subdivisions
must be withdrawn and Azerbaijan should also withdraw its forces, after
which Karabakh formations will remain there – around 20-25 thousand
people. These formations will provide the security of both Armenian and
Azerbaijani inhabitants in that region.

In that case there will be no need to bring the international
peacekeeping forces. Karabakh’s military subdivisions can realize this
mission, without the interference of the forces that have their own
interests in the region. This will reduce to the minimum the influence
of the foreign powers on our region.

Of course the return of the refugees must also be guaranteed. Which
means we can’t speak about Karabakh people ignoring the 50 thousand
Azerbaijani community, who used to live in Karabakh before 1988. If
this happens, Armenian majority, in the person of NKR military
formations will provide the security of Azerbaijani minority.

And both conflicting parties Armenia and Azerbaijan will be the
guarantees of this security. The future developments will lead to
Karabakh’s integration to Azerbaijan and Armenia’s economy will
integrate with Azerbaijan’s.

If we exercise this model, a joint system of internal security will be
created and the internal borders will not exist any more. Georgia will
also participate in this process and we will have South-Caucasian free
economic zone, meanwhile strengthening the foreign borders of the three
countries. But, if one of the parties demands from the other party to
sign under a document that enshrines the results of the war, that is to
say they try to legalize the results of the war, I’m sure it will not
lead to any positive results.’

`Do you think the results of the war must be annulled?’

`See! The Results of the war are the results of one battle. But there
can be the second battle as well, and the results of this battle can be
quite different.’

`Don’t you think the results of the second war can, mildly speaking, be
disappointing for Azerbaijan?’

`This is exactly what I mean. There can be second, third, fourth and
fifth battles. But if we really want to close this page of wars and
reach stability and peace in the region, in my view we must refuse the
idea of wars. Otherwise the defeated side will always try to take
revenge and we will appear in the situation of everlasting wars. That
is why it is better to speak about common interests and mutually
beneficial cooperation.’

`Saying refugees do you mean only Azerbaijanis, deported from Karabakh,
or also the Armenians who fled Baku, Sumgait, Kirovabad, Shahumyan and
Getashen, etc?’

`All the refugees must have the opportunity to return to their dwelling
places. So a program of the solution of social, integration,
accommodation, and other issues must be implemented. Without the
solution of these issues it is senseless to speak about their return.

Of course these issues can’t be solved immediately. In my view we must
try to solve them phase-by-phase, elaborate mechanisms, which will be
backed by Armenia and Azerbaijan. Of course this program shouldn’t be
compulsory, without the violation of the rights of those who presently
live in the deserted homes in Baku, Karabakh, Yerevan or Vanadsor.’

CanWest News Service, Canada
May 24 2008

Atom Egoyan movie wins prize for its spiritual values

Jay Stone , CanWest News Service

CANNES, France — Adoration, a film by Canadian director Atom Egoyan,
has won the ecumenical jury prize — the award given for movies that
celebrate spiritual values — at the Cannes Film Festival.

Adoration, which is about a teenage boy who re-creates his own
identity on the Internet, "invites us to re-evaluate existing cliches
about the Other or that which is foreign in our own culture and
religion," the jury said.

An emotional Egoyan said he was "overwhelmed" by the choice and also
by the citation, which he called beautifully worded. "The jury got the
movie," he said after the ceremony.

Photo: RED CARPET: Director Atom Egoyan and actress Rachel Blanchard
arrive Thursday for the premiere of Adoration at the 61st
International Cannes Film Fes-tival in Cannes, France.

Sean Gallup, Getty Images

Egoyan has won the ecumenical prize before, for his 1997 film The
Sweet Hereafter, but he said he didn’t understand why that movie won
the award. Adoration, on the other hand, "is dealing with all sorts of
belief systems, some of them obviously invented, and it’s dealing with
the nature of how we organize systems of beliefs within families and
cultures and ourselves. So it seems to make a lot more sense."

The director, who lives in Toronto, said his movie is provocative, and
it was a brave choice for the six-member international jury.

Adoration is also in the running for Cannes’ biggest prizes, including
the Palme d’Or, which will be handed out Sunday. Egoyan said his movie
came to Cannes late — it was screened on Thursday, the eighth day of
the festival — and so he has not seen any of the other films in the
running for the Palme. "I can’t make any predictions," he said.

Earlier Saturday, Next Floor, an 11-minute Canadian film about
gluttony, won the festival’s grand prize for short movie.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve, Next Floor was shot in an abandoned
Montreal factory that was being demolished, and shows a group of
diners eating piles of food — everything from rhinoceros to deer —
before crashing through to the floor below.

Villeneuve, who has also directed Maelstrom, shot Next Floor while
taking a break from editing his new feature Polytechnique, about the
1989 Montreal massacre. The Cannes award is given by the French TV
network Canal+, which acquires the right to broadcast Next
Floor. Villeneuve wins 6,000 Euros (about $9,000) toward equipment for
the shooting of his next film.

story.html?id=81920b48-e51c-4769-9dde-1dbfe7f43245

Today.Az, Azerbaijan
May 24 2008

Alexei Vlasov: "I am more likely a careful pessimist than an optimist
in the issue of the Karabakh resolution"

24 May 2008 [13:49] – Today.Az

Day.Az interview with Alexei Vlasov, Russian political scientist,
director general of the information-analytical center for research of
sociopolitical processes in the post-Soviet area.

– Do you share the opinion of the Russian leadership that the
unilateral recognition of Kosovo’s independence will complicate the
solution of conflicts on the post-Soviet area, as it will become a
precedent for other unrecognized countries? I mean primarily Nagorno
Karabakh.

– I do not think that the resolution of this conflict will depend on
the adopted resolution on Kosovo as historically this conflict had a
bit different structure. And furthermore, the Kosovo precedent may
affect more Europe than the so-called "frozen conflicts" in the
post-Soviet area.

It is clear even without Kosovo that Abkhazia remains problem for
Georgia and Nagorno Karabakh is a factor, isolating Azerbaijan and
Armenia and nothing will change much in this sense.

Therefore, the Kosovo precedent is more likely a break of all existing
norms and traditions of the international law, which formed in period
following the World War Second, we will feel the geopolitical
consequences for long. But I would not say that this may cardinally
influence the resolution or deterioration of the situation around
Nagorno Karabakh.

– Russia’s mediatory role in the resolution of regional conflicts,
which mainly occur in the territory of Georgia is negatively assessed
in the Caucasus. The Russian leadership has once issued Russian
passports to Abkhazs and now openly uses it as a cause for
interference with possible new Georgian-Abkhaz war to defend "its
compatriots" or hints on possible annexion of Abkhazia and South
Ossetia. Don’t you think that such policy not peace-keeping but
deteriorates the conflict even more?

– I think no annexation is possible in this case. I think a
complicated game is conducted around Abkhazia and South Ossetia, being
connected with the counteraction between Georgia and Russia.

Several factors have appeared here if speaking about Abkhazia. These
are Abkhazs’ objective striving for creation of an independent country
and West’s influence on Georgia, which is gradually becoming the
outpost of the US influence in the South Caucasus, unlike Azerbaijan,
which in this sense having close contacts with the West, conducts a
multi-directional and balanced policy, I think.

And the third factor is a hidden conflict between Russia and the West
in a struggle for the post-Soviet area, including on the issue of the
South Caucasus and the problem of unrecognized states.

If these factors are brought together, we will see that in fact there
is no direct counteraction between Russia and Georgia, there is a
complex geopolitical game, involving not two or three subjects, but
several sides. Therefore, it is difficult to find the common ground in
the Abkhaz, South Ossetia and Transdniestria conflicts.

But you have singled out Nagorno Karabakh, as here I do not feel any
counteraction between Russia and the West. This is the problem of
bilateral relations, of Armenia and Azerbaijan. When these countries
find common grounds on Nagorno Karabakh conflicts, the serious
breakthrough would be possible. But at present we see the results of
the mediatory efforts since 1994. They have no results.

– You have used the term "outpost" speaking about the relations of
Georgia with the West. In our region this term was previously applied
by chairman of Russian State Du,a B.Gryzlov to Armenia, whom the
speaker called "the outpost of Russia in the South Caucasus. Don’t you
think such statement of a high-ranking representative of the country
which is, undoubtedly, the leading mediator in the Karabakh conflict
settlement, undermine its neutralize?

– (Laughing) You know, being a Russian political scientist, I have
already got used to that primarily it is necessary to treat seriously
the announcements of senior political leadership: Previously it was
President and not there are two of them-President and Prime Minister.

This is because for example when Luzhkov states his position on
Sevastopol, it is clear that this is his position of a politician and
a patriot (by the way, I mostly agree with all he says). But this is
not Russia’s position and this does not reflect position of the senior
officials.

– A new president, who is considered to succeed to the previous one,
was inaugurated in Armenia. The same occurred in Russia. In October of
this year the elections will be held in Azerbaijan as well. Do you
hear any changes in the talks on Karabakh following the completion of
this year of elections?

– First of all, according to all my forecasts, the outcome of
elections is quite predictable in Azerbaijan.

Indeed, despite the replacement of the President in Armenia, the
policy, conducted by Kocharyan’s team insite the Armenian elite, will
also remain changeless. It is possible to say about succession of
powers in Russia, as well. The replacement of the first figure on the
political Olymp will also not change two much in the first 1.5-2
years, which means that there positions, Putin fixed lately, which
will successively affect the external political course of
Medvedev. Perhaps, only the rhetorics will change a bit.

Now what we have? As for the Karabakh resolution I am more a careful
pessimist than an optimist, as, if three components are the same, any
real achievements can not be expected in such case without the due
ground. And this is not because of Russia’s egoism. This is because
neither of the countries has an exact plan of resolution, though it
was worked out in the 1990s: this is primarily, liberation of the
seven regions of Azerbaijan. As I understand no achievements should be
expected for the next 1-1.5 years.

/Day.Az/

URL:

AZERBAIJAN ONE OF MOST AGGRESSIVE STATES IN WORLD

DeFacto Agency
May 22 2008
Armenia

YEREVAN, 22.05.08. DE FACTO. Azerbaijan has occupied the 101st place
in the Global Peace Index-2008, becoming one of the most aggressive
countries. To note, the Global Peace Index is made by independent
Institute for Economics and Peace and analytical department of The
Economist British magazine.

Experts estimate each state by 24 criteria – relations with neighboring
states, number of soldiers dislocated abroad, etc. 140 countries have
been considered by the experts.

According to the research’s results, Island has been recognized as
the most peace-loving country. Norway, New Zealand, Japan, Ireland
have also been included in the list of ten peace-loving states.

Estonia has turned to be the most peace-loving states among post-Soviet
countries and occupied the 35th position. Latvia is 39th; Lithuania
41st. Armenia has not been included in the rating.

SEX AND THE CITY PLAYS CASH AND CARRIE AT M&S
Nicola Copping

The Times
May 23, 2008
UK

She brought us skyscraper Manolos, nameplate neck chains and
super-size-me corsages. They brought us bumper pack knickers and
Magic Shaper Shorts.

Patricia Field and Marks & Spencer? Hardly a fashion match made in
heaven but, come October, the Sex and the City stylist will launch
a 35-piece, one-off fashion range in Your M&S.

This is a retail coup that even the Topshop tycoon Sir Philip Green
couldn’t get his mitts on. "I wanted to get involved with a brand
that really understood women of all ages," asserts Field, who at 66
still sports miniskirts and hair the colour of chilli powder. And
she couldn’t have chosen better than Sir Stuart Rose’s mother ship,
whose advertising campaign stalwarts Twiggy, Erin O’Connor and Lily
Cole have long established themselves as emblems of its "something
for every woman, at every age" ethos.

Field’s exuberant style may threaten to pierce the M&S safety
net. However, the American stylist claims that her look started off
simple: "In my early teens, I wore jeans every day. I always dressed
simply; my hair is my only wildness." Born in New York to Greek and
Armenian parents, Field’s independent sartorial streak developed in
the face of her mother’s time-consuming professional life. "I made
my decisions very young, I never asked permission. This upbringing
is where my style starts."

Aged 24, Field opened her first fashion store in Manhattan’s Greenwich
Village. Three years later she was restless. She began to make
"things that we weren’t finding out there". In the early Nineties,
moving into film and television styling, Field made a life-changing
contact. Hired as a stylist on the set of Miami Rhapsody in 1995,
she encountered Sarah Jessica Parker. Three years later and the way
was paved for fashion’s most beloved character, Carrie Bradshaw.

Field’s eclectic approach to clothes was one powerful cog in the Sex
and the City machine. The sparky characterisation was mirrored by the
whimsical, memorable and, at times, eye-watering outfits. Carrie’s
puff-balls, Samantha’s shoulder pads and Charlotte’s prom dresses
burned an indelible mark on to women’s wardrobes. "Sex and the City
changed the way that women dress," Field cried. And she was right.

She won two Emmy awards, and an Academy award nomination in 2006
for The Devil Wears Prada. More recently she cast her eye back to the
fabulous four in the film version of SATC. Still based in New York, and
living large, she chooses to do so as a singleton but dates "primarily
women, but not exclusively". But can Britain’s women really be the
next Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda? Yes. Field made the best
of four very different women on set, four personalities that made up
the everywoman. How many times have you asked yourself which one you
are most like? In October, Patricia Field will help you find out.

GLOBAL PEACE INDEX 2008: AZERBAIJAN ONE OF MOST AGGRESSIVE COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD

PanARMENIAN.Net
21.05.2008 14:34 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Most countries in the world are performing better
against key measures of peacefulness compared with last year,
according to the latest rankings of the Global Peace Index(GPI),
now in its second year.

This year the Index has been expanded to rank 140 countries – from
Afghanistan to Zimbabwe – according to how peaceful they are, both
domestically and how they interact with the outside world.

Azerbaijan ranks 101, thus entering the list of the most aggressive
countries of the world. Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania –
are the most peaceful among the post soviet republics, the Financial
Times reports.

The Index is constructed from 24 indicators of external and internal
measures of peace including UN deployments overseas and levels of
violent crime.

Iceland, making its first appearance in the Index, tops the
rankings. Countries in Scandinavia have also emerged as among the
most peaceful countries on the planet with Denmark (2) and Norway
(3) scoring very highly. New Zealand (4) and Japan (5) – the only
member of the G8 in the top ten – complete the highest ranked. The
United States held virtually steady at number 97, dropping one slot
from last year’s rank of 96.

But other nations, including Angola (110), Indonesia (68) and India
(107), have demonstrated the greatest improvements compared to last
year’s Index.

Based on a direct comparison of the 121 countries measured in the GPI
2007 to GPI 2008, a majority of the individual indicators have seen
slight improvements. On average, scores for level of organized conflict
(internal) and violent crime, political instability and potential
for terrorist acts have all improved marginally. In contrast, the
world’s armed services have grown on average per country, as has the
sophistication of its weaponry.

Other key findings: small, stable and democratic countries are the
most peaceful – 16 of the top 20 are western or central European
democracies; the G8 fared very differently: Japan (5), Canada (11),
Germany (14), Italy (28), France (36), UK (49), United States (97),
Russia (131); Iraq is the lowest ranked country on the Index (140).

RESCUE BRIGADE TO BE SENT TO CHINA

Panorama.am
19:10 20/05/2008

Today the Minister of Emergency State Mher Shahgeldyan received
Mrs. Konsuelo Vidal the permanent coordinator of the UN. Nino
Antanadze, head of the UN disaster management group, Tatev Koloyan,
the assistant of UN coordinator, Edik Barseghyan, the director of
Armenian rescue service, and the deputy directors of the rescue
service Aram Tananyan and Nikolay Grigoryan.

According to the press service of the ministry, Mrs. Vidal
congratulated the minister for the appointment, presented the projects
implemented with the rescue team and discussed the perspectives of
the future cooperation.

Minister Shahgeldyan mentioned that the formation of the ministry
is the proof to the fact that the Government pays attention on the
current field. "We are not just aimed to form a strong power which
could be treated as the sequence of Spitak earthquake but to the first
in the regional countries. Armenia has been providing aid to Georgia,
Russia, Turkey, Iran, India and Thailand in different disasters. Today
we are ready to send rescue teams to China," said M. Shahgaldyan.

‘GENOCIDE’ BOOK DROPPED FROM READING LIST IN CANADA

Today’s Zaman
May 19 2008
Turkey

A petition campaign launched by Turks living in Canada against a
recent decision in Toronto to include in school curricula the study
of an alleged genocide of Armenians in the final years of the Ottoman
Empire has eventually yielded a result, with the book being pulled from
the recommended reading list of a new Toronto public school course.

Some 11,000 petitions have been collected in the online petition
campaign. In January, the Unity Group, consisting of several Turkish
NGOs in Canada, said that the course would put at risk the lives
of Turkish and Muslim students in high schools. The group called on
authorities to reverse the decision to include the course, created
by one of the largest school boards in Canada, the Toronto District
School Board, in the 2008-2009 curriculum.

Barbara Coloroso’s "Extraordinary Evil: A Brief History of Genocide"
was originally part of a resource list for the grade 11 history course,
"Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity," set to launch across the
Toronto District School Board district this fall. The book examines
the Holocaust, which exterminated 6 million Jews in World War II;
the Rwandan slaughter of nearly 1 million Tutsis and moderate Hutus
in 1994; and the killings of Anatolian Armenians at the beginning of
the last century.

"But a committee struck to review the course decided in late April
to remove the book because ‘a concern was raised regarding [its]
appropriateness. … The Committee determined this was far from a
scrupulous text and should not be on a History course although it
might be included in a course on the social psychology of genocide
because of her posited thesis that genocide is merely the extreme
extension of bullying,’ according to board documents," The Globe and
Mail, an English-language Canadian daily, reported on Friday.

GREAT BRITAIN TO CONTINUE ACTIVITIES IN ARMENIA, AMBASSADOR SAYS

ARKA
May 16, 2008

YEREVAN, May 16. /ARKA/. Great Britain has no intention to break off
activities with Armenia, but further bilateral cooperation mainly
depend on the country’s internal political situation and economic
progress, UK Ambassador to Armenia Charles Lonsdale said during his
meeting with RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian.

The Ambassador assured the Premiere Great Britain is ready to assist
Armenia in the implementation of joint programs with European Union
(EU) and World Bank (WB).

Ambassador Lonsdale stressed the necessity for the balanced regional
development program in the country.

In his turn, Sargsian assured the British Ambassador that his
activities in Armenia will contribute to Armenian-British cooperation
development. To foster democracy, Armenia stipulates for serious
programs and activities to settle topical issues, the Prime Minister
said.

Sargsian was not content with the Armenian-British trade turnover
and set a stress on economic cooperation development.

Armenian-British trade turnover increased by 51.7% to $45.1mln in 2007.

Armenian exports to Great Britain last year totaled $2.8mln against
7.6mln in 2006. British imports to Armenia rose 91.2% to $42.3mln in
the reporting period.

Thanking the Ministry of International Development of Great Britain
for carrying out social reforms in Armenian regions, Sargsian said
Armenia plans to launch new cooperation programs.

The Prime Minister informed the British Ambassador the new concept
of civil service is under way. He said Armenia expects technical
assistance from Great Britain to implement this program. The Premier
assured the Ambassador Armenia will do its best to sign an agreement
with Great Britain on preventing double taxation. This may become
a serious impetus to bilateral economic cooperation, according to
Sargsian.

The participants to the meeting also discussed issues on regional
development and Armenian-Turkish relations. Sargsian confirmed that
Armenia is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without
any preconditions. He said Great Britain can play a crucial role in
this issue.

Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1993 on Turkey’s
initiative. This caused $500mln worth annual damage to Armenia’s
economy.