Author: Nanijanian Alex

RA AMBASSADORS TO EASTERN EUROPEAN DO THEIR UTMOST TO FAMILIARIZE EUROPEANS WITH ARMENIA

PanARMENIAN.Net
02.10.2007 15:10 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "There is no need to represent Armenia in
Bulgaria. All know Armenians well there," the RA Ambassador to
Bulgaria, Sergei Manasarian told reporters in Yerevan.

"Bulgarian textbooks contain chapters dedicated to Armenians. It’s hard
to find a Bulgarian, who speaks ill of Armenians, people say. However,
we lack high-quality materials, photos and films about Armenia. The
Ministry of Culture should attend to the issue but alas…" the
Ambassador said.

Meanwhile, the Embassy arranges cultural events and there is an
Armenian TV program once a week, he noted.

For his part, the RA Ambassador to Austria, Hungary, Czechia and
Slovakia, Ashot Hovakimian said there is Marlenka sweet-shop in
Prague. It’s owned by Armenian Gevorg Avetisyan and all know where
to by wonderful confectionery. "The residents of Prague associate
cakes and confectionery with Armenia," Hovakimian said.

"As to Austria, this country is not well aware of Armenia. However,
we do our utmost to fill in the gap.

Some 15 tourists groups have visited Armenia this year. Both Armenia
and Austria are interested on tourism development, especially since
there is a direct Vienna-Yerevan flight," the Ambassador said

ARMENIAN COURT EVACUATED IN ANOTHER ‘BOMB ALERT’
By Ruzanna Khachatrian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Oct 1 2007

Armenia’s Court of Appeals became on the Monday the latest target
of false bomb alerts that seem to be becoming a regular occurrence
in Yerevan.

A statement by the national Police Service said the court judges and
other staff were briefly evacuated from the building in the morning
immediately after an unknown individual claimed to have planted a bomb
there in a phone call to a nearby police station. It said security
forces searched the building but found no explosive devices.

"As a result of the thorough search, nothing was found in the court
building, after which the institution returned to its normal work,"
the statement said. It added that the police launched a criminal
investigation under a relevant article of the Armenian Criminal Code.

Dozens of teachers and other employees of a public school in Yerevan
were evacuated after a false bomb alert on August 30. The incident
occurred less than two months after a similar anonymous phone call
forced the evacuation of employees of several government ministries
located in a single building. Police quickly arrested at the time an
elderly man reportedly suffering from a mental illness.

PM ERDOGAN CRITICIZES AIMS OF ARMENIAN DIASPORA IN US

Hurriyet, Turkey
Oct 1 2007

Speaking to members of the US-based Turkish Society on the last day
his US visit, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan referred to the
ongoing debate over the so-called Armenian genocide, noting that the
events of 1915 should be left to historians to discuss.

Addressing an audience of Turkish Society representatives and others,
PM Erdogan referred to a recent visit made by the spiritual leader
of the Armenians in Turkey, Patriarch Mesrob II, noting "Look, they
didn’t even want Armenian Patriarch Mutafian to speak here. Why didn’t
they want him to speak? Because the Armenians who live amongst us in
Turkey, our Armenian citizens, have no complaints. I have Armenian
citizens in my own party…..There is an (Armenian) diaspora here,
I am speaking openly now, they are after their own interests, and
pursuing these claims to see how they can benefit."

Prime Minister also used his address to call on Turkish citizens
living in the US to become US citizens, noting that this would help
improve relations between the two countries.

PanARMENIAN.Net

U.S. State Department justifies Okruashvili detainment

29.09.2007 13:39 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ `In am not aware of the details of Irakli
Okruashvili’s arrest. However, I think it followed some criminal
activities. It’s conditioned by the intention to establish order in
the state but not by politics. The court will arrive at a verdict. If
there are suspicions the investigation should be carried out with
extreme accuracy and scrupulosity,’ said Matthew Bryza, Deputy
Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs.

Law enforcement and law supremacy are in the process of being refined
in Georgia, according to him, Noviy Region reports.

Former Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili was detained in
Tbilisi yesterday. He is accused under 4 articles of the Georgian
Penal Code: extortion, money laundering, abuse of authority and office
negligence.

Once being Saakashvili’s closest ally, Irakli Okruashvili went into
opposition and later accused the President of organizing the murder of
well-known businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili.

LEVEL OF LAKE SEVAN RISES BY 63 CENTIMETERS SINCE EARLY 2007
Author: Arev Hakobian Editor: Eghian Robert

Noyan Tapan News Agency, Armenia
Sept 28 2007

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Since early 2007, the level of
Lake Sevan has risen by 63 cm and currently makes 1,898.86 meters.

The RA minister of environmental protection Aram Harutyunian said at
the September 28 press conference held in connection with 100 days
of his tenure that this year, water has been let out of Lake Sevan
since June and the water release from the lake amounted to 144.4 mln
cubic meters as of September 26. Out of 95 ha of forest areas covered
with water due to a rise in the lake’s level, 72 ha has been cleaned.

According to the minister, in 2007, state budget allocations for
increasing the number of endemic fish, including summer trout, grew
by 20 million drams (about 58 thousand dollars) to 29 million 995
thousand drams. This year 15,119 young fishes over 4 grams and 84
thousand newly-hatched ones have been released into the lake.

A. Harutyunian said that the environmental protection inspection of
the ministry conducted checks of 519 economic entities and revealed
492 violations. With the aim of eliminating these violations, 198
instructions were given, 347 acts on administrative fines of the total
amount of 22.2 bln drams and 118 protocols on damage done to nature
of the total amount of 49 mln drams were compiled. 29.2 mln drams
was transferred to the state budget as a result of imposing penalties.

TURKISH PRIME MINISTER CALLS FOR URGENT US ACTION AGAINST SEPARATIST KURDISH REBELS
By Lily Hindy, Associated Press Writer

Associated Press Worldstream
September 28, 2007 Friday 4:44 AM GMT

Turkey’s prime minister urged the United States to act against Kurdish
rebels who have escalated attacks on his country from bases in Iraq,
warning that continued inaction was harming U.S. relations with its
key Muslim ally.

Turkey has become increasingly frustrated with the U.S. for failing to
live up to promises to tackle separatist guerrillas from the Kurdistan
Workers’ Party or PKK, who have been fleeing across the border into
Iraq’s predominantly Kurdish northern provinces. Turkey massed troops
on its border with Iraq earlier this year, and officials are debating
whether to stage a military incursion.

"Our expectations are very clear on this point. The Iraqi authorities
and the U.S. must urgently take concrete measures beyond simply
paying lip service … unfortunately so far we have not seen any
concrete steps," Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday
at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Under a proposed counterterrorism pact with Iraq, Turkey wants its
troops to have the right to pursue the rebels across the border,
according to Turkish media. But the agreement, which was expected to
be signed on Thursday, has yet to be approved.

The U.S. considers the PKK a terrorist organization, but officials
have been reluctant to act for fear of widening the Iraq conflict
and increasing violence in what has been Iraq’s most stable region.

Iraqi officials, already weary of what they see as domestic challenges
to their sovereignty, including the U.S. detention of Iranians in the
north and the recent killing of at least 11 Iraqis by U.S. security
contractors, are not eager to see yet another foreign force crossing
over their border.

Relations have been strained between Washington and Ankara for years,
mostly over the Iraq war. Turkey, a strategically important NATO ally,
refused to allow U.S. troops to use its territory to invade Iraq in
2003 and a recent opinion poll found only 9 percent of Turks had a
favorable view of America.

Erdogan voiced support for a timeline on the withdrawal of foreign
troops from Iraq.

"If coalition forces announce a timeline, then Iraqi forces will take
responsibility … if there’s a timeline and training they’ll take
control," he said.

The issue of a troop withdrawal has been a big factor internationally
and in the U.S. where support for the war has largely dissipated,
leaving President George W. Bush struggling to make a case for a
continued U.S. troop presence in the country.

Erdogan said he would consider letting the United States withdraw from
Iraq through Turkey. He said he would have to "assess the situation"
at the time.

Bush administration and U.S. military officials have said while Iraqi
forces are making some gains, they are not yet ready to assume full
security responsibilities.

Erdogan also reiterated strong opposition to a U.S. congressional
resolution introduced in January that would recognize the killings
of Armenians in the early 1900s as genocide.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by
Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I, an event widely viewed
by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century.

Turkey, however, denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying that
the toll has been inflated and that those killed were victims of civil
war and unrest. The United Nations has not recognized the killings
as a genocide.

Similar resolutions have been introduced in the U.S. before, but
were always kept from a full vote by congressional leaders. The Bush
administration has tried to quash the current resolution because of
pressure from Turkey.

"Should this draft reach the floor, and the Congress of our ally pass a
unilateral, political judgment of no legal bearing on such a sensitive
and controversial issue which is directly related to my country’s
national conscience, it will seriously impair Turkish-American
relations with wide-ranging implications in our overall cooperation,"
said Erdogan.

CITY STREETS
by Shirley Kressel

South End News, MA
Sept 27 2007

Parcel 13 is a designated Greenway park parcel, a small but important
parcel located near Columbus Waterfront Park and Faneuil Hall
marketplace, adjoining the site of the proposed Boston Museum. Like
all the others, its concept and design should be determined through
a full public process to maximize public benefit. It should be built,
programmed and maintained in the public’s interest by an entity fully
accountable to the public.

Toward this end, there can be no pre-conceived outcomes, no abridged
processes and no curtailment of opportunity to come up with the best
possible design for the park.

In consultation with Gov. Deval Patrick, who has promised to support
genuine civic engagement and democratic public process, Environmental
Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles wrote to the Turnpike Authority on June 8,
confirming the mandate for a true public process for the Greenway:

"Parcel redevelopment is subject to the CA/T Project joint development,
or tripartite, process established in the Project’s mitigation
requirements under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act MEPA
and the Federal Highway Administration Record of Decision.

This process arises not only from the language of the various
documents, but also from an established practice interpreting that
language. The process was designed to achieve broadest possible
consensus on the ultimate uses of the public open spaces created by
the Project. See Central Artery/Tunnel Joint Development Protocol
for Surface Parcels, June 6, 2003."

However, after a remarkably responsive, inclusive public process for
the creation of the Greenway thus far, the process for Parcel 13, the
last of the parks, has been privatized for a special-interest group
offering to pay the cost of construction of their preferred design.

The Turnpike, Mayor Tom Menino and the Boston Redevelopment Authority
are going through the motions of a sham two-meeting "process,"
orchestrated to legitimize a pre-determined design promoted the
Armenian Heritage Foundation, which has offered the Turnpike money
for allowing them to appropriate the park as a genocide memorial site.

The first meeting, on Sept. 19, purportedly to set design guidelines,
was a by-invitation neighborhood gathering packed with memorial
supporters, who openly used the guideline-setting exercise to further
their goal. The second meeting, scheduled for Thurs., Sept. 27, is
planned simply as a forum for the Foundation to explain how their
design meets their criteria.

At the meeting, the Turnpike outright refused to carry out the most
important part of the public process whereby the other park parcels
were designed: the competitive designer selection process. For those
parks, disinterested professionals were selected to work with the
public in creating the best possible designs for each parcel. That is
the heart of the public process, the key to the successful outcomes
on those parks.

This charade of a process for Parcel 13 violates the letter and spirit
of the CA/T agreements, and of the Administration’s letter.

The Turnpike and the Administration must remedy this embarrassing
subversion of "civic engagement." It is a betrayal of the public
trust – a fragile trust the Governor promised to restore as an
antidote to citizens’ loss of confidence in their government. Indeed,
neighborhood people who oppose this use of the parcel did not bother
to attend a meeting wasted on a "done deal." The broader public was
not even included.

It is shameful – and inexplicable – that the Turnpike Authority,
which managed $15 billion for the road project, designed and built
the entire Greenway according to a genuine and successful public
process, and committed a contribution of $10 million to the Greenway
Conservancy (a private group of donors chartered to give, not take,
funding!) cannot find the trivial sum involved in designing and
building a 16,000 square foot (one-third of an acre) park.

We should halt the Authority’s sale of our public realm, and demand
that a legitimate public process be provided for design of this
park parcel.

I have requested, on behalf of the public that has been locked out of
this unauthorized disposition of their parkland, that the Commonwealth
and the Turnpike Authority, the City of Boston, and the community Task
Force conduct a public process on Parcel 13 equal to that conducted
for all the other parks.

Regardless of the group, regardless of their proposed use (with full
appreciation for the worthiness of an Armenian genocide memorial),
and regardless of the Turnpike’s constrained budget (of which Parcel
13 would be an insignificant speck), the agency is obligated to
inform all interested parties – as it has done in the past – that
the "common ground" we have all awaited for over a decade is not for
sale, not now and not in the future. No Greenway parcel should be a
proprietary installation.

The Turnpike Authority should make a firm public commitment that:

~U There will be a park on Parcel 13.

~U It will be of a quality and character consistent with the other
Greenway parcels.

~U It will be designed through the same standard process that
produced the other parks ~U Guidelines set by a broad public process
~U Competitive designer selection process ~U Public participation in
design finalization ~U It will be funded, controlled and maintained
as an integral part of the Greenway, and its design and use, like
those of the other parks, will be able to evolve in response to future
changes in public open space needs and in the surrounding context.

All interested members of the public should attend the meeting on
Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. at the Nazarro Center, in the North End, to request
that an open, competitive designer selection process be carried out,
and that the people receive the best park, not the only one private
money will buy.

ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI: US STANDS FOR PROGRESS IN THE SETTLEMENT OF THE KARABAKH CONFLICT

ArmRadio – Public Radio, Armenia
Sept 26 2007

The US stands for progress in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict,
but the solution is complicated because of known reasons, former
Adviser to US President on National Security, famous political
scientist, Adviser of the US Center for Strategic and international
Studies Zbigniew Brzezinski told one of Azeri TV channels, Day.az
reports.

Zbigniew Brzezinski said the resolution of the conflict between Armenia
and Azerbaijan is a complex task. In his words, first of all the
conflicting parties should demonstrate resoluteness in searching for
ways for conflict resolution and come to an agreement. "The matter is
that Armenia has not defeated Azerbaijan, therefore, it cannot impose
the way of resolution. Simultaneously, Azerbaijan has not celebrated
victory over Armenia, either. Therefore, it cannot dictate its way of
resolution of the conflict," the political scientist clarified. The
two parties need to choose a consentaneous way of solution. "We can
promote the process through the mediators’ activity, but the solution
of the issue does not depend on us," Brzezinski noted.

Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel. (202) 775-1918
Fax. (202) 775-5648
Email [email protected]
Internet

PRESS RELEASE
September 26, 2007
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918

TURKEY’S LOBBYISTS ENLIST FORMER U.S. SECRETARIES OF
STATE TO KILL ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

— ANCA Warns Against "Outsourcing" of America’s Moral Conscience
to Turkey

WASHINGTON, DC – Fearing an imminent vote on the Armenian Genocide
Resolution (H.Res.106), Turkey’s multi-million dollar lobbyists
have solicited the assistance of eight former U.S. Secretaries of
State in seeking to derail this human rights legislation, reported
the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA.)

"Facing a growing bipartisan Congressional majority demanding
passage of the Armenian Genocide Resolution, Turkey’s lobbyists –
out of desperation and a never ending desire to squeeze more
billing dollars out of Ankara – have turned to the very architects
of our government’s failed policy of appeasing Turkey," said Aram
Hamparian, Executive Director of the ANCA. "Sadly, successive U.S.
administrations have found themselves lacking the moral courage to
end the cycle of genocide – from Cambodia, to Rwanda and, today in
Darfur – precisely because of their legacy of caving in to, rather
than confronting genocidal regimes."

"We are, as Americans, especially troubled that, in warning
Congress not to make a simple anti-genocide statement for fear of
upsetting Turkey, these officials would outsource our nation’s
moral conscience to a foreign government," added Hamparian.

In their September 25th jointly-signed letter, former Secretaries
of State Madeleine Albright, James Baker III, Warren Christopher,
Laurence Eagleburger, Alexander Haig, Jr., Henry Kissinger, Colin
Powell, and George Schultz, urged Speaker Pelosi to, "prevent the
resolution from reaching the House Floor," thereby denying House
Members an opportunity to vote their conscience on the Armenian
Genocide. The former State Department officials expressed concern
that passage of the resolution "could endanger our national
security interests in the region, including our troops in Iraq and
Afghanistan, and damage efforts to promote reconciliation between
Armenia and Turkey." The complete text of the letter is provided
below.

Introduced on January 30th by Rep. Adam Schiff along with
Representative George Radanovich (R-CA), Congressional Armenian
Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI),
Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA) and Rep. Thaddeus
McCotter (R-MI), the Armenian Genocide resolution calls upon the
President to ensure that the foreign policy of the United States
reflects appropriate understanding and sensitivity concerning
issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide
documented in the United States record relating to the Armenian
Genocide. The resolution is cosponsored by 226 Members of Congress
>From 39 states. A similar resolution in the Senate (S.Res.106),
introduced by Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen.
John Ensign (R-NV) currently has 31 cosponsors, including Senate
Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and presidential candidate
Hillary Clinton (D-NY).

Over the past nine months, Armenian Americans and human rights
advocates have joined with Members of Congress in educating their
colleagues about the Armenian Genocide and the importance of proper
recognition of this crime against humanity. The ANCA has mounted
several national grassroots initiatives including the highly
successful "Click for Justice" and "Call for Justice" campaigns as
well as the "End the Cycle of Genocide" Advocacy Days, cosponsored
with the Genocide Intervention Network.

Activists are encouraged to voice their support for the Armenian
Genocide resolution by participating in the ongoing ANCA
Congressional Call-In Campaign by visiting:
t?alertid=10340906&type=TA

The Armenian Genocide resolution is supported by a broad-based
coalition of over 50 human rights, religious, civic, and ethnic
organizations, including the (in alphabetical order): American
Federation of Jews from Central Europe (New York, NY), Americans
for Peace Now (Washington, DC), American Hellenic Council of CA
(Los Angeles, CA), American Hellenic Institute (Washington, DC),
American Hungarian Federation (Washington, DC), American Jewish
World Service (New York, NY), American Latvian Association in the
U.S. (Rockville, MD), American Values (Washington, DC), Arab
American Institute (Washington, DC), Belarusan-American Association
(Jamaica, NY), Bulgarian Institute for Research and Analysis
(Bethesda, MD), Center for Russian Jewry with Student Struggle for
Soviet Jewry (New York, NY), Center for World Indigenous Studies
(Olympia, WA), Christian Solidarity International (Washington, DC),
Congress of Romanian Americans (McLean, VA), Council for the
Development of French in Louisiana (Lafayette, LA), Estonian
American National Council (Rockville, MD), Genocide Intervention
Network (Washington, DC), Global Rights (Washington, DC), Hmong
National Development, Inc., Hungarian American Coalition
(Washington, DC), Institute on Religion and Public Policy
(Washington, DC), International Association of Genocide Scholars
(New York, NY), Jewish Social Policy Action Network (Philadelphia,
PA), Jewish War Veterans of the USA (Washington, DC), Jewish World
Watch (Encino, CA), Joint Baltic American National Committee
(Rockville, MD), Leadership Council for Human Rights (Washington,
DC), Lithuanian American Community (Philadelphia, PA), Lithuanian
American Council (Rockville, MD), National Ethnic Coalition of
Organizations (New York, NY), National Council of Churches USA (New
York, NY), National Federation of American Hungarians (Washington,
DC), National Federation of Filipino American Associations
(Washington, DC), National Lawyer’s Guild (New York, NY), Polish
American Congress (Chicago, IL), Progressive Jewish Alliance (Los
Angeles, CA), Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (Wyncote, PA),
Slovak League of America (Passaic, New Jersey), The Georgian
Association in the USA (Washington, DC), The Workmen’s
Circle/Arbeter Ring (New York, NY), U.S. Baltic Foundation
(Washington, DC), Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (New
York, NY), Ukrainian National Association (Parsippany, NJ),
Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations (Washington,
DC), United Hellenic American Congress (Chicago, IL), Washington
Chapter Czechoslovak National Council of America (Washington, DC),
and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom
(Philadelphia, PA), and the Zionist Organization of America (New
York, NY).

#####

September 25, 2007

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker of the House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515-0508

Dear Madam Speaker:

We are writing to express concern that H. Res. 106 could soon be
put to a vote. Passage of the resolution would harm our foreign
policy objectives to promote reconciliation between Turkey and
Armenia. It would also strain our relations with Turkey, and would
endanger our national security interests in the region, including
the safety of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We do not minimize or deny the enormous significance of the
horrible tragedy suffered by ethnic Armenian from 1915 to 1923.
During our tenures as Secretaries of the State, we each supported
Presidential statements recognizing the mass killings and forced
exile of Armenians. It has been longstanding U.S. policy to
encourage reconciliation between Turkey and Armenia and to urge the
government of Turkey to acknowledge the tragedy. We understand the
Administration continues to urge the Turkish government to
reexamine its history and to encourage both Turkey and Armenia to
work towards reconciliation, including normalizing relations and
opening the border. There are some hopeful signs already that both
parties are engaging each other. We believe that a public statement
by the U.S. Congress at this juncture is likely to undermine what
has been painstakingly achieved to date.

We must also recognize the important contributions Turkey is making
to U.S. national security, including security and stability in the
Middle East and Europe. The United States continues to rely on
Turkey for its geo-strategic importance. Turkey is an indispensable
partner to our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, helping U.S
military with access to Turkish airspace, military bases, and the
border crossing with Iraq, Turkey is a linchpin in the
transshipment of vital cargo and fuel resources to U.S. troops,
coalition partners and Iraqi civilians. Turkish troops serve
shoulder-to-shoulder with distinction with U.S. and other NATO
allies in the Balkans. Turkey is also a transit hub for non-OPEC
oil and gas and remains key to our effort s to help the Euro-
Atlantic community bolster its energy security by providing
alternative supply sources and routes around Russia and Iran.

It is our view that passage of this resolution could quickly extend
beyond symbolic significance. The popularly elected Turkish Grand
National Assembly might react strongly to a House resolution, as it
did to a French National Assembly resolution a year ago. The result
could endanger our national security interests in the region,
including our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and damage efforts to
promote reconciliation between Armenia and Turkey. We strongly urge
you to prevent the resolution from reaching the house floor.

Sincerely,

Madeleine K. Albright
James A. Baker III
Warren Christopher
Lawrence S. Eagleburger
Alexander M. Haig, Jr
Henry A. Kissinger
Colin L. Powell
George P. Shultz

CONTINUITY IN RUSSIA-ARMENIA RELATIONS TO BE PRESERVED

ITAR-TASS, Russia
Sept 25 2007

MOSCOW, September 25 (Itar-Tass) – The continuity in the development
of Russian-Armenian relations will be preserved, including after the
presidential elections, due to take place in both countries in 2008,
Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said here on Tuesday, opening the talks
with his Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkisyan.

"I believe this is our common task to develop allied relations,
primarily in the sphere of economy and in the humanitarian sphere,
as well as to consolidate the contractual basis of Russian-Armenian
relations," Zubkov said. According to his information, a number of
documents will be signed on the results of the Tuesday talks.

"Our relations – those of Russia and Armenia – are long-term and
friendly. There are some issues, which should be discussed, however.

It will be a long dialogue. We were getting prepared for the meeting,"
he continued.

Zubkov reminded that this year it would be 15 years since the
establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Last
August it was ten years since the signing of the Interstate Treaty
of Friendship and Cooperation, which is the basic document for the
development of bilateral relations. "The results of our cooperation
look encouraging, on the whole. The whole system of bilateral relations
is functioning well, and regular meetings of our presidents, as well
as their dialogue based on mutual trust, make our cooperation in all
spheres really effective," Zubkov stressed.