Author: Dabaghian Diana

LITHUANIAN PRESIDENT AND ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSSED BILATERAL RELATIONS

50
Nov 18 2008

Tuesday, November 18, Vilnius – President of the Republic of Lithuania
Valdas Adamkus received Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Edward
Nalbandian.

The President commended Lithuania’s and Armenia’s bilateral relations
that are gaining momentum. "The opening of the Lithuanian Embassy in
Yerevan and the planned opening of the Armenian Embassy in Vilnius
will send a message to our entrepreneurs, artists and all other
people about our commitment to facilitate, as much as possible, the
development of our bilateral relations. I hope our people will make
use of the emerging new opportunities for cooperation," President
Adamkus said in the meeting.

Lithuania’s leader noted that Armenia is developing its relations
with Europe, is increasingly opening its doors to its neighbours and
is looking collectively for common responses to the long-standing
problems. The President says these steps taken by Armenia and its
efforts towards a compromise have a positive effect on stability and
economic growth in the entire region.

Minister Nalbandian pointed up that his country hopes to develop
further the cooperation with Lithuania both on a bilateral scale and
with a view to closer relations with the European Union.

"Europe needs Armenia and we are ready to help your country to get
closer to the European Union," the President said.

The Armenian Foreign Minister informed the President of Lithuania
about Armenia’s aspirations for closer relations with Turkey and on
the progress of negotiations on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

President Adamkus underlined that Lithuania supports efforts to solve
this issue by way of a dialogue and peacefully. "Lithuania has been
and will be supporting a solution that will reflect wishes and the
will of the countries involved and their citizens. It is only through
negotiations and mutual compromise that the best solution could be
arrived at," President Adamkus said.

According to the Lithuanian President, such a solution must be
based on international legal principles and contribute to stronger
peace, security and stability in the region and beyond, and specific
solutions should be sought within the existing negotiation formats
of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

ARMENIAN-FRENCH FRIENDSHIP DATES BACK TO CENTURIES

armradio.am
18.11.2008 10:36

President Serzh Sargsyan received the President of the General Council
of Vandee Department of France, Member of the European Parliament,
Philippe de Villiers and his delegation comprising members of the
French National Assembly and the Vice-Presidents of the General
Council of Vandee Department, President’s Press Office reported.

Expressing gratitude to the members of the Parliament for the
assistance rendered to Armenia, for deepening the Armenian-French
friendship, for the efforts directed at the recognition of the
Armenian Genocide and its condemnation, Serzh Sargsyan said that the
Armenian-French friendship and mutually warm feelings for each other
date back to centuries. "France is regarded by the Armenian people as
a very close, friendly state which perceives the Armenian issues is
depth and brings a practical help to their solution," the President
of Armenia stressed.

Philippe de Villiers said they are Armenia’s good friends. According to
him, Vandee is the Department with the highest number of enterprises
and the majority of labor force and with this regard their experience
could be useful for Armenia.

Noting that there are 120 enterprises in Armenia with French capital,
Serzh Sargsyan expressed hope that the companies of Vandee would
also come to Armenia. "Your presence also introduces the European
industrial and=2 0agricultural culture to Armenia," he said.

The President of Armenia expressed satisfaction with the level
of cooperation in the area of upgrading teachers’ qualification,
especially taking into consideration the fact than recently Armenia
has become the associated member to the International Organization
of La Francophonie.

The President of the General Council of Vandee Department informed
that during the discussions held in Yerevan the outline of future
cooperation has already been established and that they intend to
implement rather ambitious programs.

"LET THEM GIVE BACK 54 ARMENIAN VILLAGES"

A1+
[07:55 pm] 17 November, 2008

"A crushing defeat in the diplomatic realms," member of the political
board of the Social Democratic Henchak Party (SDHK), Vahan Shirkhanyan,
said with regard to recent developments over the Karabakh conflict
regulation.

Though the Armenian side won the war and was to take an active
diplomatic policy, Azerbaijan was able to defeat Armenia in the sphere
of information.

"While our officials were busy building palaces and visiting casinos,
Azeris waged an information war against Armenia," he said.

His opponent, Republican Armen Ashotyan, agreed that Armenia has
lost the information war but he accounted it for Armenia’s democratic
path. The Armenian opposition and press will inform the world of the
country’s interior life," said Ashotyan.

The Republican MP thinks Armenia needs a political consensus and
solidarity of political forces to win in the diplomatic sphere.

"For the first time Azerbaijan has signed a document envisaging
a peaceful resolution to an issue. Let us not forget that both the
first, second and third presidents of Armenia continue negotiations
over the Karabakh conflict with different methods. None of them has
started from naught. This is very important," said Ashotyan.

The opponents also debated over previous versions of the conflict
settlement. Vahan Shirkhanyan ensured that the one proposed in 1998 was
undoubtedly better as it referred to the whole region of Lachin. While
today they mainly speak of the Lachin corridor, withdrawal of Armenian
troops, return of Azeri refugees, etc. Shirkhanyan also reminded that
54 Armenian villages are today in Azerbaijan’s territory. "If they
want new territories, let them give back those 54," he said.

Ashotyan agreed with Shirkhanyan at the same time noting that the
territorial exchange will hardly contribute to the settlement of the
Karabakh issue.

MINSK GROUP TRANSFERS TO CRISIS MONITORING ON THE CONTACT FRONT LINE OF "NAGORNO KARABAKH" AND AZERBAIJANI ARMED FORCES

Today.Az
/49037.html
Nov 17 2008
Azerbaijan

Monitoring on contact front line of Azerbaijani and Armenian armed
forces will be held on November 19.

17:20

The due announcement was made by personal representative of OSCE
chairman-in-office Anzhey Kaspshik.

"The monitoring which was planned in advance is expected to be held in
Chinari village area (Tavush oblast of Armenia), after which there is
a plan to hold a crisis monitoring on the contact line of the armed
forces of Karabakh and Azerbaijan", said Kaspshik.

He noted that the monitoring is held twice a month, yet if there is
a problem, it is transferred to the crisis situation regime.

Currently the OSCE Minsk Group has already appealed for permission
to hold a crisis monitoring due to the military actions in Fizuli.

15:08

"The Minsk Group is passing to the crisis monitoring on the contact
front line of the armed forces of "Nagorno Karabakh" and Azerbaijan.

Such an approach is caused by the military actions in Fizuli, which
led to victims.

The situation creates concerns and again requires details of the
events, yet we do hope that the monitoring, which has repeatedly
rescued many lives, will help this time too", said the US co-chair of
the OSCE Minsk Group on Karabakh Matthew Bryza at a press conference
in Yerevan on Monday.

According to Bryza, MG has already applied for permission to hold a
crisis monitoring.

"The situation in Fizuli is important in the sense of deepening trust,
which will help avert such military actions", said he.

The US co-chair noted that the sides have confirmed readiness to
settle the conflict by politically peaceful way and the death of
soldiers due to provocative actions should be prevented.

Personal representative of OSCE chairman-in-office Anzhey Kaspshik
explained that the crisis monitoring will be held soon. "The monitoring
does not envision permanent visits to the contact front line. It will
be held on the spot", said he.

Today’s Zaman, Turkey
Nov 15 2008

ErdoÄ?an urges Obama to heed Armenia, Iraq sensitivities

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an has asked US
President-elect Barack Obama to support Turkey in its fight against
terrorism and to refrain from backing Armenian claims of genocide at
the hands of the Ottoman Empire once he takes over the post from
George W. Bush.

`I sincerely congratulate Barack Obama and his team who won the
elections. Turkey and the United States, as two allies that have very
strong relations, have been supporting each other for more than half a
century,’ the Turkish prime minister said Thursday during a speech at
New York’s Columbia University, which Obama graduated from. `Turkey is
determined to continue the close cooperation with Obama’s new US
administration. Naturally, we expect the US administration to take
into consideration our sensitivities on issues that are of vital
importance to us.’

During his campaign, Obama pledged to Armenian-American voters that he
would support the genocide claims if he were elected president. Turkey
denies genocide charges and says actions by third countries could hurt
the thawed relations between Turkey and Armenia. The two neighbors
have had no formal relationship since 1993, when Turkey severed its
ties and closed its border with the landlocked country in protest of
the Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh. Ankara says normalizing
ties depends on Armenia’s withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh and ending
support for the Armenian diaspora’s efforts to win international
recognition for genocide claims.

The US Congress has twice shelved resolutions calling for recognition
of the genocide claims under pressure from the administration. The
measure is expected to be brought to Congress when Obama takes office.

ErdoÄ?an said US sensitivity over these issues is important for
the future of Turkey-US relations. He welcomed the fact that Obama had
already declared that US cooperation with Turkey regarding terrorism
will continue.

The prime minister recalled that Turkey has proposed a joint committee
of historians to study Armenian claims and said it expected Armenia to
respond positively to the offer. `Let’s allow historians to do their
job. We have opened our archives, and if the Armenians have their
archives, let them open them to the public, too,’ he said. `Let
historians study the archives and decide. And we all will respect
whatever the outcome is.’

He said he hoped the US administration would also take the Turkish
proposal into consideration while deciding on a policy over the
issue. Relations with Washington hit a snag when the Turkish
Parliament rejected a government motion in 2003 that would have
allowed military cooperation with the United States in the Iraq
war. Since then, tension grew as the US consistently turned down
Turkish requests for action against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’
Party (PKK), which attacks Turkish targets from its bases in northern
Iraq. In November 2005, Bush vowed intelligence cooperation against
the PKK, after which the US military began to supply real-time
intelligence on movements of the PKK in northern Iraq.

In his speech, ErdoÄ?an also touched on the dispute over Iran’s
nuclear program and reiterated that Turkey opposed the proliferation
of nuclear weapons while supporting countries’ rights to acquire
nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

UN Security Council victory

In New York, ErdoÄ?an also hosted a dinner for UN
representatives to thank them for electing Turkey to the Security
Council for 2009-2010. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was among the
dignitaries attending the dinner.

Turkey was competing with Iceland and Austria for one of the two seats
reserved for the Western Europe and Others Group in the UN. It won the
vote by a wide margin in October, securing a seat in the influential
world body after almost half a century of absence. Its growing
influence in the Middle East, the Caucasus and the Balkans has boosted
support for Turkey among the UN nations, observers said.

ErdoÄ?an also addressed the UN General Assembly earlier on
Thursday at a meeting on a Saudi Arabian initiative to promote
dialogue between religions. ErdoÄ?an said the meeting was a
response in a bid to tackle `the bi-polarization in the international
community, lack of understanding and discrimination’ that he said had
reached `a threatening dimension.’

`Terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, trafficking
and organized crime have all gone global. An end should be put on
so-called `good terrorist, bad terrorist,” the prime minister said.

While in New York, ErdoÄ?an briefly met with Bush and Pakistani
President Asif Ali Zardari in UN General Assembly Hall. He also met
with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

—————————————– ———————–

Nalbandian to visit Ä°stanbul next month
Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian will visit Ä°stanbul
next month to attend a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
(BSEC), news reports said yesterday. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said
this week that Nalbandian would soon visit Turkey to build diplomatic
contacts with Armenia, with which Turkey has no formal ties. Although
Nalbandian’s visit on Nov. 24 is for the BSEC meeting, he is expected
to meet with Babacan on the sidelines of the gathering and discuss the
normalization of ties, CNN Türk said. Armenia is the current
holder of the BSEC’s presidency. Babacan and Nalbandian had three-way
talks together with Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in
September discussing the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Earlier this month,
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hosted a summit with the Azerbaijani
and Armenian presidents in Moscow. In a speech in New York on
Thursday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip ErdoÄ?an said Turkey
welcomed the Russian initiative and wanted to host a similar summit
with the Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents. Ä°stanbul Today’s
Zaman

15 November 2008, Saturday
TODAY’S ZAMAN WITH WIRES Ä°STANBUL

Hürriyet, Turkey
Nov 15 2008

Euro experts mull over polishing Turkey’s image

ANKARA – European officials have urged Turkey to step up its efforts
to promote its image in the European Union during a conference on
"Influence Strategies of Turkey in EU member states," an endeavor they
say is an integral part of the accession process.

"The global strategy should be to move away from emotional issues and
try to communicate rational issues," Jacques Lafitte, founder of
Avisa Partners, an EU Public Affairs Consultancy firm, told the
Hürriyet Daily News, on the sidelines of the conference held
at BaÅ?kent University.

"Try to tell Europeans that Turkey is a successful country on the
economic side, which it is. People do not know about it," he said, and
advised restraint from wasting energy arguing against marginal
opinions within Europe.

Thomas Grunert, head of the Interparliamentary Delegations Unit at the
European Parliament, said European parliamentarians are not satisfied
with changes to Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code, an image
spoiler for Turkey, speaking to the Daily News. "The European
parliament would like to go beyond and see the article dropped or
further modified to guarantee even more freedom of expression,"
Grunert said.

He said there was a sort of disappointment in Europe over the pace of
Turkey’s accession process. "2008 was the year of European
integration: It is almost over, and many people were expecting more
progress, although we understand there were some negative internal
developments," Grunert said.

Turkey ignores the undecided
Vural Ã-ger, a German member of the European Parliament, asserted
that Turkey must differentiate its communication strategies toward
different target groups. "You have to speak differently to a senior
conservative German male member of Parliament, than to a young female
MP from Bulgaria," Ã-ger said as he differentiated between
countries who are favorable, reluctant, or indifferent to Turkey’s
accession to the EU.

"Turkey must concentrate on the latter," Ã-ger said, adding that
excessive campaigning in countries like France or Austria, where
public opinion is heavily against Turkey’s accession, would be a waste
of energy.

"Undecided countries are ignored by Turkey. When Turkey is on the
agenda of the European Parliament, it is members from Austria, France,
Germany or Netherlands, reluctant member states, who take the stage
first. We hardly hear Poles or Romanians speak about Turkey," Ã-ger
said.

Sensitive topics of Turkish foreign policy should be handled with a
cool head, Lafitte said. "I know that Cyprus is a very difficult
domestic topic in Turkey, but on that, the best thing to do is to stay
calm.

"It is pretty much the same with the French law on Armenian claims,"
said Lafitte, referring to the law adopted by the French national
assembly, but not discussed in the French Senate, that criminalizes
denying the Armenian claims of genocide. "I think it is the historians
duty to write history. But there was a complete overreaction in
Turkey, which antagonized public opinion in France," Lafitte said.

WHEN POLITICS BECOMES PROFITABLE BUSINESS
Vrezh Aharonyan

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
14 Nov 08
Armenia

The fact that the Ter-Petrosyan-led movement and different forces
supporting it carry out their activity chiefly due to the financial
resources imported from abroad is, unfortunately, a political reality
and may have disastrous consequences for our country. Certain western
circles legalize their sums through different channels, investing
them in the political processes of Armenia.

In this respect, quite an interesting chain is being created by
"Heritage" Party (leader Raffi Hovhannisyan) and the "Armenian
Centre of Strategic and National Research" (ASCNR), a non-governmental
organization which is headed by the same person. The activity they have
been carrying out over the recent years leads one to the conclusion
that the American-funded "Heritage" concentrates its resources in the
foundation of the "Armenian Centre of Strategic and National Research"
which serves as a donor for the party.

Let’s try to show how the existing mechanism works, based on the
example of Raiffi Hovhannisyan’s successive visit to Los Angeles on
October 11-29.

As reported by our sources in America, R. Hovhannisyan and the people
accompanying him organized the regular fundraising for the ACSNR during
their visit to the United States at the end of October and disguised
everything behind the veil of some receptions allegedly held on the
occasion of the 15th anniversary of the organization. In particular,
within the frameworks of the gathering organized on October 26 in
Los Angeles, in the hall of "Krikor and Marylyn Bzdikyans" center,
R. Hovhannisyan’s closest people organized a fundraising-celebration,
inviting around 300 people.

Furthermore, each couple was to pay 1000 US Dollars.

However, the amount of money to be paid for participating in
the celebration aroused discontent among the invitees, forcing
R. Hovhannisyan and his partners to reduce the sum to 500 US Dollars.

For making the celebration more presentable and influential,
R. Hovhannisyan invited not only well-known businessmen and benefactors
but also Armen Liloyan, Chief Consul of the Republic of Armenia in
Los Angeles. And the latter participated in the event (as to what
made a person carrying out a diplomatic mission participate in an
event not envisaged by the state protocol is unknown).

During the event, R. Hovhannisyan and his partners managed to collect
50 thousand US Dollars, and the sum was immediately moved to Armenia
for meeting the expenses of the ASCNR and "Heritage". In fact,
the leader of one of the native parliamentary parties is engaged
in shady fundraising with the help of different people who comply
with the instructions and orders of suspicious foreign political and
economic circles and donate sums to R. Hovhannisyan’s party. It’s
quite possible that they send political messages to R. Hovhannisyan
who is forced to carry them out through his own party.

After all this, there’s no need to be surprised by the fact that many
political forces and figures have nothing to do with Armenia or the
interests of the Armenian people, and in many cases, they act against
those interests, making politics a profitable business.

ZHARANGUTIUN CHALLENGES CORRESPONDENCE OF CREATION OF EXPERTS’ FACT-FINDING GROUP TO CONSTITUTION

Noyan Tapan

Nov 14, 2008

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 14, NOYAN TAPAN. The signing of the Moscow
declaration based on the Madrid principles causes serious
concerns. Stepan Safarian, a member of the RA NA Zharangutiun
(Heritage) faction, stated at the November 14 parliamentary press
briefing. In particular, according to him, it is alarming that there
is no signature of the Karabakh side in that document signed after 14
years’ interval in the negotiations of Nagorno Karabakh settlement. On
the other hand, the declaration has been signed by one country-co-chair
of OSCE Minsk Group, Russia, while official Yerevan constantly declares
the necessity to settle the problem within the Minsk Group format.

Member of the same faction Zaruhi Postanjian said that the consequences
and dangers proceeding from the Moscow declaration and Madrid
principles are not visible to the population of Armenia. Therefore,
the Joining initiative is going to carry out the respective propaganda
in all regions of Armenia. The deputy said that if the authorities
forbid to hold the events in the halls, the organization is ready to
hold the meetings in the open air.

Touching upon the experts’ fact-finding group on study of the March
1 events, Z. Postanjian said that the RA President’s decree on its
ceation and activity is anti-constitutional, as the President is not
empowered to do it.

Such a group was to have been created as a result of the adoption of
the respective law. S. Safarian said that though a representative of
their party is also involved in the group, nevertheless Zharangutiun
will continue challenging group activity’s correspondence to the
Constitution.

TURKEY OFFERS TO MEDIATE US-IRAN TALKS

Voice of America
Nov 12 2008

Turkey’s prime minister said his country is ready to mediate between
Iran and the incoming U.S. administration of Barack Obama.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Ankara, Turkey, 11 Nov 2008 In
an interview in Wednesday’s New York Times, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said
Ankara could be "very useful" in nurturing ties between Tehran and
Washington, strained over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. He said
Iranian President Mahmoud Amadinejad’s overture of congratulations
to Mr. Obama is "a step that has to be made use of."

Mr. Erdogan told the Times that the president-elect — who has said
he would consider breaking with long-standing U.S. policy and sit
down with Iranian leaders — offers a chance for America to reclaim
"an image that’s been lost."

Turkey has already been roiled by the war in Iraq on its border,
and the specter of conflict in neighboring Iran. Mr. Erdogan told
the Times "wars are never the solution in this age."

As a secular Islamic nation, member of both the U.N. Security Council
and NATO, Turkey, standing at the crossroads of Europe and the Middle
East, has recently tried to raise its regional profile.

Mr. Erdogan told the Times that Turkey’s principle in foreign policy
is not to earn enemies.

In the wake of the Georgian-Russian conflict in August, Ankara sought
to head up a group to resolve conflicts in the Caucasus. The government
has also been mediating talks between arch foes Syria and Israel and
re-establishing ties with Armenia.

Turkey’s foreign minister, Ali Babacan, today said he expects
developments soon in the long-running dispute with Armenia, as well
as the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The minister said he will visit Azerbaijan in the coming days. He
said his Armenian counterpart, Eduard Nalbandian, may also visit
Turkey as part of "diplomatic traffic" in the Caucasus.

Turkey sided with Azerbaijan in its dispute with Armenia over the
largely Armenian-inhabited region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The foreign ministers of the three countries met in September on the
sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

ARMENIA: FOREIGN MINISTER EDWARD NALBANDIAN PAYS AN OFFICIAL VISIT TO SWEDEN

ISRIA
_swed.html
Nov 12 2008
DC

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandian had meetings in
Stockholm, where he arrived by the invitation of Carl Bildt, Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

The first meeting of Armenian Foreign Minister was with Carl Bildt,
his Swedish counterpart and Chairman of the Committee of Ministers
of the Council of Europe.

The agenda of the negotiations between Foreign Minister of Armenia
and Sweden included wide range of issues concerning Armenian-Swedish
bilateral relations, Armenia-European Union cooperation, regional
and international issues.

Touching upon Armenian-Swedish bilateral relations Minister Nalbandian
mentioned that Armenia is interested in the development of cooperation
with Sweden and solid precondition for that have already been created.

In the course of the meeting Ministers Nalbandian and Bildt had
a detailed discussion on issues concerning the cooperation between
Armenia-European Union and expressed mutual satisfaction by the process
of implementation of European Neighbourhood Policy Action plan. Edward
Nalbandian presented his Swedish counterpart the results of President
Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to Brussels and meetings with EU leadership.

Ministers discussed Polish-Swedish proposal for Eastern Partnership,
and in that regard Edward Nalbandian mentioned that the Armenian side
positively assesses the initiative and expects the elaboration of the
suggestions by the European Commission to hold discussions on that
issue with partner countries and European structures in near future.

In his turn Minister Bildt mentioned that Polish-Swedish proposal
enjoys EU support and in future essential discussions will be
held. He also told that during Swedish Presidency in the EU (second
half of 2009) serious attention will be paid to the relations with
South Caucasus countries. Minister Bildt accepted Armenian Foreign
Minister’s invitation to visit Armenia and announced that he would
visit Yerevan before assumption of EU Presidency.

On Swedish Foreign Minister’s request Edward Nalbandian presented
Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) peace process and expressed hope that the
declaration signed by Presidents of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Russia
in Moscow will create an opportunity to activate negotiations and fix
progress. Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Sweden exchanged ideas on
the possibilities of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations.

The recent events around South Ossetia were also discussed by the
Ministers.

The meeting between Ministers was followed by press
conference. Afterwards signing ceremony of the Readmission Agreement
between Republic of Armenia and the Kingdom of Sweden took place.

In the noon Swedish foreign minister hosted official lunch in
honour of his Armenian counterpart.In the second part of the day
Edward Nalbandian made a speech on Armenian foreign policy at the
Institute for Security and Development Policy. Swedish Government
officials, representatives of diplomatic corps, scientific centres
and universities, political analysts and journalists attended the
speech. Minister’s speech was followed by a lively answer-question on
Armenian foreign policy. In addition to political agenda, Minister
Nalbandian’s had number of meetings with the representatives of
Swedish companies.

In the course of the meeting with Ulf Berg, Chairman of Swedish Trade
Council, Edward Nalbandian presented the Government steps aimed
at the development of Armenian economy, investment opportunities
and its priorities. They discussed the possibilities to organize
Armenian-Swedish business forum, as well as mutual visits of officials
of the Government’s economic block.

They have exchanged ideas on world financial crisis and the ways to
overcome it.

Edward Nalbandian also visited the Headquarters of Ericsson
Corporation, where he met with Bjorn Hemstad, Chairman of Ericsson’s
Eastern Europe region. At the meeting Minister Nalbandian got
acquainted to the company’s activity and perspective projects. Minister
expressed satisfaction for the effective cooperation of Ericsson
with Armenian mobile phone operators. The talks were focused on
the possibilities for enlargement of cooperation between Armenian
companies and Ericsson.

In Stockholm Edward Nalbandian also met with the leadership of Nasdaq
OMX financial group – manager of Armenian Stock exchange, and discussed
the issues concerning the activity of the company in Armenia.

On November 7 in the evening Edward Nalbandian met with the
representatives of Armenian community in Sweden. At the meeting which
passed in warm atmosphere, Minister Nalbandian presented foreign policy
of Armenia, perspectives of Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) conflicts
settlement, steps aimed at the normalization of Armenian-Turkish
relations. Speaking on Armenia-Diaspora relations, Minister Nalbandian
mentioned that Armenian authorities intend to give a new stimulus to
the cooperation with Diaspora and the establishment of the Ministry
of Diaspora is one of the steps toward that goal. During his stay in
Stockholm Edward Nalbandian gave a broad interview to the Swedish TV.