Over 400 People Evacuated To Armenia From Lebanon
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
July 24, 2006
By Armen Dulian
More than 400 Armenians and ethnic Armenian citizens of Lebanon have
been evacuated to Armenia since the start of Israel’s military assault
against the Middle Eastern nation, a senior official in Yerevan said
on Monday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Gegham Gharibjanian said virtually all of them
have been transported to Yerevan from Syria in special charter flights
carried out by the Armavia national airline and partly subsidized by
the Armenian government. “The planes flying to Syria are empty and
the government covers their one-way cost,” told RFE/RL.
Gharibjanian said Armavia carried out a similar flight to Tel Aviv,
bringing back more than 50 Armenian nationals residing in Israel
early on Monday. Not all of them are believed to have returned to
Armenia for security reasons, though.
The government estimates that some 1,200 Armenian nationals lived in
Lebanon before the start of the Israeli onslaught almost two weeks
ago. Lebanon is also home to an estimated 80,000 ethnic Armenians,
most of them living in the Christian districts of Beirut that have
been largely spared bombardment so far. The Armenian community has
not reported any casualties yet.
“Fortunately, our forecasts have proved correct and there has been no
massive influx [of Armenian evacuees from Lebanon], even though our
diplomatic missions are prepared to help to evacuate more people,”
said Gharibjanian.
The government in Yerevan announced last week that any citizen of
Lebanon fleeing the war and willing to take refuge in Armenia will
be granted special residency permits free of charge. It also sent
two diplomats to Beirut and Aleppo, Syria to assist in the evacuation.
So far, about 30,000 foreign nationals have fled Lebanon, most
traveling to Cyprus and Turkey by boat.

Sarkisian Vows ‘Best’ Election In Armenia’s History
Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
July 24, 2006
By Ruzanna Khachatrian and Ruzanna Stepanian
Defense Minister Serzh Sarkisian said next year’s parliamentary
elections will be the “best” in Armenia’s history as he officially
became the number two figure in the governing Republican Party (HHK)
at the weekend.
“I think that 2007 will see the best elections that have ever been held
in the republic’s territory,” Sarkisian said. Asked by a reporter to
explain reasons for his optimism, he replied: “Because I will strive
for that, because all the prerequisites are in place.”
Sarkisian made the remarks at a news conference that followed a
one-day congress of the HHK which formalized the party’s strategic
alliance with Armenia’s second most powerful man who is believed to
harbor presidential ambitions.
Opposition leaders are certain to scoff at the pledge not least
because Armenian officials had given such promises in the past but
failed to honor them, with virtually every national election held in
the country since independence criticized as undemocratic by Western
observers. They regard Sarkisian as the main mastermind of serious
fraud reported during the last presidential and parliamentary elections
in 2003. The powerful minister managed President Robert Kocharian’s
reelection campaign at the time.
But Sarkisian made it clear that he does not think the previous
Armenian elections were deeply flawed. “The best means better than
good,” he said. “That is, things were good and will get even better.
For during every election [Western] observers concluded that it was
a step forward from the previous election. But of course there were
shortcomings.”
According to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
and the Council of Europe, those shortcomings were serious enough to
make the Armenian elections fall short of democratic standards.
Sarkisian is now seen as Kocharian’s most likely successor, having
secured the backing of the HHK, Armenia’s largest governing
party headed by Prime Minister Andranik Markarian. Some 700
delegates attending the HHK congress, among them scores of senior
government officials, unanimously elected him as the party’s first
vice-chairman. He will also head the party’s new 70-strong governing
council that will comprise some of the wealthy government-connected
businessmen that joined the HHK after it teamed up with Sarkisian.
Those include Karen Karapetian, the leader of the second largest
group in Armenia’s current parliament, and millionaire businessman
Harutiun Pambukian.
Addressing the congress, Sarkisian portrayed the HHK as a force capable
of bringing long-term stability and prosperity to Armenia. “I will
do everything to ensure that we prevail in this struggle as well,”
he said.
“I am confident that there have emerged new opportunities to jointly
achieve our objectives,” Markarian said for his part. “I am confident
that all of our party comrades are able to assist in that.”
Speaking at the ensued press conference, both men were at pains to
dispel the widely held belief that Sarkisian is now the party’s de
facto top leader. “I can only be considered one of the leaders of
the Republican Party,” said Sarkisian.
Hasmik Navasardian, the widow of the HHK’s late founder Ashot
Navasardian, hoped that this will be the case. “I hope that Andranik
Markarian will not cede his positions,” she told RFE/RL. “Serzh
Sarkisian and Andranik Markarian must cooperate or risk angering God.”
Sarkisian’s affiliation with the HHK and the resulting influx of
more influential individuals into the party have raised fears that
the Republicans will try to achieve a landslide victory in the 2007
elections at any cost. In an interview with RFE/RL late last week,
Sarkisian implicitly denied this, saying that even garnering 25 percent
of the vote would be a “good” result for his party. He also claimed
to have not yet decided whether to contest the presidential election
due in 2008. He had indicated earlier that his decision depends on
the outcome of the parliamentary vote.
The Republican congress was also marked by the conspicuous absence
of Gagik Tsarukian, a influential tycoon close to Kocharian who
set up recently a party widely seen as a counterweight to the HHK.
Organizers said Tsarukian was invited to attend the gathering along
with other guests. His failure to show up stoked rumors that Kocharian
is not quite happy with the HHK’s strengthening.
The HHK’s junior coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary
Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), also appears to be less than enthusiastic
about the latest political developments. Spartak Seyranian, a
Dashnaktsutyun spokesman, implicitly referred to the new Republican
recruits as opportunists who frequently switch sides. “There is a
certain stratum that usually decides its [political] orientation in
advance of elections,” he told RFE/RL. “I therefore don’t see anything
extraordinary happening now.”
Seyranian also claimed that Dashnaktsutyun is not worried that
Sarkisian might use the Armenian military for electoral purposes. “I
think that our political capacities and levers will allows us to
ensure the objectivity of any electoral process. Dashnaktsutyun has
the necessary will to do that,” he said.
A senior member of former parliament speaker Artur Baghdasarian’s
Orinats Yerkir party, which was squeezed out of the governing
coalition in May, said the HHK is being bolstered by government
factions keen to “reproduce themselves. “Some forces are trying to
act in new uniforms, hoping that they won’t be recognized,” Heghine
Bisharian said in an apparent jibe at Sarkisian and his inner circle.
“But they are badly mistaken.”
“That congress had nothing to do with the Republican Party as its
sole purpose was to prolong the rule of President Kocharian and Serzh
Sarkisian,” claimed Artashes Geghamian, the leader of the opposition
National Unity Party.

EU envoy: Armenia-EU action plan and 2007 elections are connected directly
Regnum, Russia
July 24, 2006
Armenia-EU action plan within framework of the European New
Neighborhood Policy would be signed in the near future, Armenian
Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan stated on July 24 during joint press
conference with EU Envoy in Southern Caucasus Peter Semneby.
He is quoted by a REGNUM correspondent as saying that detailed
information concerning date of signing the document would be received
in the near future. It is supposed the EU top-level delegation would
visit the region in order to sign the document. “The Armenian side is
about to sign the document; we have no serious problems; there are
several small ones, which will be settled within next week,” Vardan
Oskanyan stressed, adding that the Azerbaijani side had problems
concerning Cyprus; however, they were settled. “We hope the document
will be signed by all the three South Caucasian countries in the near
future,” the Armenian foreign minister stressed.
In his turn, Peter Semneby stressed that there was direct connection
between the Armenia-EU action plan and forthcoming 2007 parliamentary
elections in Armenia. The program envisages steps, which will
contribute to conducting parliamentary elections in correspondence
with international norms. “I hope the Armenian parliamentary elections
will be fair and transparent,” the envoy pointed out reminding of
responsibilities Armenia had assumed concerning conducting transparent
elections. According to Mr. Semneby, the EU is going to watch closely
the forthcoming elections. “We will consider the elections’ outcomes,
based on observations and conclusions of international observers,”
the EU representative resumed.

ARMENIAN DEFENSE MINISTER JOINS RULING PARTY
EurasiaNet, NY
July 24, 2006
In a widely expected move, Armenia’s Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian
has taken a senior leadership position with the ruling Republican
Party amidst an apparent push by the party to retain its political
weight in upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections.
Sarkisian, often depicted as a favorite to succeed President Robert
Kocharian, was elected as board chairman of the Republican Party of
Armenia (RPA) at a July 22 congress in Yerevan called to amend the
party’s policy platform and regulations. The post of chairman of
the board was reinstated for the elections, and 28 new members were
appointed to the party’s 42-member board. Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian was elected as the party’s president.
Sarkisian’s decision to join the Republican Party has been scrutinized
as an indicator of political strategies to come among Armenia’s ruling
elite in the run-up to the country’s parliamentary elections in 2007
and presidential elections in 2008. But party members have taken pains
to emphasize that the inclusion of Defense Minister Sarkisian and Prime
Minister Markarian only testifies to the government’s political unity.
“No one has a doubt that Serge Sarkisian would be able to create his
own party, as many other politicians did or intended to,” commented
parliamentarian Hranush Hakobian, another Republican Party member, in
an interview with Armnews TV. “But he preferred to join the existing
party instead, thus showing his commitment to avoiding conflicts.”
Sarkisian told journalists at the congress that he has no rival in
Armenia, and denied reports of an ongoing conflict with President
Kocharian, adding that he has no plans to resign from his post as
defense minister.
In a 90-second speech to congress participants, Sarkisian, speaking
as if already a party veteran, criticized those who had predicted a
split in the RPA in the past and added that the party was determined
to strengthen the spirit of national unity as Armenia takes on new
challenges. At a briefing following the congress, Sarkisian told
reporters that his election as chairman of the Republican Party board
was not an extraordinary event. “I have cooperated with this party
for a long time now,” he said, mentioning that he had run in the 2003
parliamentary elections on the RPA’s candidate list, although not as
a party member. “So we have just made a document correspond to the
reality of the situation,” he said.
Parliamentary Speaker Tigran Torosian, vice-president of the RPA,
earlier also advanced that view, describing Sarkisian’s decision to
join the party as “nothing strange.”
“Of course, Mr Sarksian is an influential person and the RPA is
an influential political party, if not the most influential one,”
Aravot newspaper quoted Torosian as saying on July 20. “His joining
the RPA is natural.”
Outside observers have focused on Sarkisian’s own ambitions for the
presidential elections in 2008, but the defense minister and other
senior party officials at the congress kept mum on that score. In
a July 20 interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Sarkisian
claimed that President Kocharian approved his decision to join the
Republican Party, but stressed that he himself has not decided whether
or not to run for president when Kocharian steps down in 2008. Prime
Minister Markarian told reporters after the congress that a decision
about an RPA presidential candidate will be taken only after next
year’s parliamentary elections.
The May 2007 parliamentary elections, however, also did not feature
on the congress’ agenda, but party leaders did not deny that steps
taken at the gathering were in preparation for next year’s vote.
Sarkisian stated that the RPA would work with other parties in the
elections, adding that the ballot “will be the best elections in
Armenia so far. It is because I want them to be.”
The congress demonstrated the Republican Party’s growing political
potential. The party now claims more than 30,000 members, twice its
official number in 2004. In recent weeks, scores of new members have
joined the ranks, not least due to rumors about Sarkisian’s expected
decision to register as a member. At least seven government ministers,
many influential regional governors and community heads, as well as
prominent businessmen took part in the party congress.
Torosian told congress participants that the influx of new members
emphasizes the growing importance of Armenian political parties and
the tendency for consolidation to capitalize on those gains. Torosian
argued that this is a consequence of the constitutional amendments
adopted last November, which enhance the role of the parliament
vis-a-vis the president.
According to Suren Zolian, an independent political analyst, the RPA
stands to take as many as half of the next parliament’s 131 seats.
(Serge Sarkisian himself has said that he would be glad if the
party could win 21 percent of the vote.) However, another political
scientist, Manvel Sarkisian of the Kavkaz Analytical Center, believes
the situation is not that simple. Kocharian and his entourage will more
likely support Bargavach Hayastan, or Prosperous Armenia, a new party
that has been cast as part of the campaign for a “liberal, democratic
Armenia” backed by the West, commented Sarkisian, who is no relation
to the defense minister. While terming the congress an “unprecedented
event in Armenian history” since the ruling party has no explicit
support from the president or “a foreign country,” Sarkisian predicted
that conflicts with Prosperous Armenia are likely since the party has
“recruited those who were not allowed to join Bargavach Hayastan.”
For now, though, the RPA is taking pains to emphasize its
alignment with the Armenian and Western mainstream. Founded in
1990 as a nationalist party, the group now describes itself as a
“national-conservative party.”
“We are a classical conservative party, for which the basic values
are: God, nation, motherland, traditional family, a stable system of
moral values, a liberal economy,” Prime Minister Andranik Markarian
said in a speech addressing the congress.
Editor’s Note: Haroutiun Khachatrian is a Yerevan-based writer
specializing in economic and political affairs.

Kenya opposition boss’s coup confession stirs row
Reuters AlertNet, UK
July 24, 2006
NAIROBI, July 24 (Reuters) – An admission by Kenya’s harshest
government critic that he backed a coup attempt against then President
Daniel arap Moi has rocked the country’s already turbulent political
scene a year ahead of a 2007 election.
A new biography of opposition leader Raila Odinga, 59, reveals he was
involved in plotting the 1982 coup attempt during which hundreds died
and Nairobi was looted.
Odinga’s confirmation of that has outraged his foes, who called for
him to be arrested for treason. But it has delighted supporters,
confirming their view of Odinga as just the revolutionary firebrand
needed to shake up Kenya’s scandal-plagued political scene.
“By 1982, the Moi regime had become a one-party absolute despotism
with a long train of abuses,” said Deputy Information Minister Koigi
wa Wamwere, applauding Odinga.
“This made peaceful change of government impossible; a military coup
inevitable,” added Wamwere, who like Odinga was imprisoned under Moi.
According to the book — titled “Raila Odinga: an enigma in
Kenyan politics” and picturing a lion on the front — he set up a
communications centre at an apartment in Nairobi where he monitored
events on behalf of the plotters.
Moi survived the attempt to oust him.
Reacting to the book, Moi said it revealed Odinga’s true nature and
urged Kenyans to be wary of “the man from the lake”, referring to
his origins near Lake Victoria.
Odinga, who intends to vie for the country’s presidency next year,
is widely credited with orchestrating President Mwai Kibaki’s 2002
election win, which ended Moi’s 24-year reign.
STEEPED IN CONTROVERSY
But the relationship turned sour during a constitutional referendum
campaign late last year when Odinga campaigned against a new
constitution backed by Kibaki.
The result was a humiliating defeat for Kibaki who later sacked Odinga
as his roads and public works minister.
Kibaki’s government has since been plagued by high-level graft
scandals, a police raid on Kenya’s second largest media house and an
embarrassing airport security alert involving two Armenian brothers
said to be under official protection.
As a vocal critic of Moi, Odinga was jailed on and off during a period
of eight years, a fate shared by many of the ex-president’s critics. He
then stunned opposition colleagues by forming a coalition with Moi’s
Kenya African National Union party in 2002, but led a walkout six
months later.
The fiery son of a famous Kenyan opposition campaigner derives his
main support from his western Luo tribe and slum dwellers in the
capital Nairobi.
“The air force plotters were mainly from the Luo ethnic group unhappy
with the political developments which had marginalised the Luos in
the affairs of the nation,” says the book by Nigerian author Babafemi
A. Badejo.
Odinga is running third in popularity ahead of next year’s presidential
poll, according to the most recent survey. Analysts said it was too
soon to tell if the book would help or hinder.
Odinga faces a stiff challenge from Kalonzo Musyoka — running second
for the presidency according to opinion polls — to win the nomination
of their Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Azerbaijan has never left talks table – Azeri FM official
Source: Trend
24.07.2006
Author: E.Huseynov
The recent statement of the Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan
regarding the issue that “Yerevan hopes that the new American co-chair
of OSCE Minsk Group Mathew Bryza will achieve to convince Azerbaijan
to return to the talks on base of the final proposals of mediators” is
unclear, Tahir Tagizade, the head of the press and information policy
department of the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan, told, Trend reports.
“It is possible to say many things, the commentary would be longer
than the word of Oskanyan. It would be to say that Azerbaijan has
never left the table of talks so that it is drawn back to the talks.
The second, finally the talks emerged about the framework document,
although the mediators themselves told that there is no document,
but collection of non-agreed principles. And the third, Armenia has
already started to appeal to the fact that it will be held elections
in Armenia in 2007 and therefore, it is impossible to seriously hold
negotiations,” told Tagizade.

Armenian Journal: In Caucasus enclave, journalists find improvement
International Journalist’s Network
July 24, 2006
By Timothy Spence, Knight International Press Fellow
Around the corner from the government offices of the self-declared
Nagorno-Karabakh republic, two journalists spend a recent Friday
evening working in the small offices of the local press club.
That there is not much news this evening may be a good thing-more
than a decade after a ceasefire between Karabakh separatists and the
armies of two former Soviet republics, the peace in this picturesque
Caucasus region remains fragile.
And so do conditions for the journalists who work here. Salaries
are low, information can be hard to come by, and the 11 independent
newspapers depend on outside sponsors for survival. Most residents
of the economically struggling region of 145,000 people cannot
afford the 100 dram (about 23 U.S. cents) it costs for a newspaper.
Advertising is scarce.
The government-run public broadcaster controls the radio and
television stations in Karabakh, and there are several state-sponsored
newspapers. But journalists interviewed here say that while there are
obstacles to getting information, the working environment has become
more free in recent years.
Naira Hayrumyan, left, and Karine Ohanyan say low wages and a reserved
society make work in Nagorno-Karabakh difficult for journalists.
It was hard to imagine this a few years ago, when there were no
alternative and independent mass media in Karabakh,” says Karine
Ohanyan, who works for the independent “Demo” newspaper and corresponds
for the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting. “However,
now that we have a number of publications independent of authorities,
reporters are able to cover developments fairly by means of such
mass media. As a result, readers can get information from different
sources and formulate their own objective opinion.”
Naira Hayrumyan, editor of the online news service KarabakhOpen.com,
also says there is greater freedom for journalists. Officials use
“friendly advice” rather than “threats or force” in dealings with
reporters, she says.
Still, journalists face significant challenges in a region still
scarred by ethnic conflict that turned bloody as the Soviet Union
disintigrated. Self-censorship, the small size of the region and
fears of self-expression-a byproduct of Soviet rule-all make the job
difficult. And a reserved society makes it tough for even the most
aggressive journalists to have their reporting effect change.
“Karabakh reporters live in a small country where all the people
know each other, and many of them simply refuse to be in a story,”
says Hayrumyan, adding that in Karabakh, “we seek to observe the
decencies and not to offend anyone.”
Ohanyan and Hayrumyan were interviewed in English and Armenian at the
three-room press club in the capital Stepanakert, and later answered
questions about press freedom by e-mail. Their answers were translated
from the Russian.
Ohanyan of “Demo” says the lack of media influence hurts the
unrecognized Karabakh republic, saying there is no “fourth estate”
to spur public debate or create awareness about citizens’ concerns.
“They are on their own, in a way, a separate link in the chain, and
on the whole their quality matters little,” Ohanyan said. “The media
perform an information function and that’s it.”
Karabakh got much less international media attention than other
post-Soviet conflicts. The rugged moutnains of the landlocked region
made access difficult and its small size made this a secondary story to
the battles in Chechnya and the former Yugoslavia, and less compelling
a story than the peaceful revolutions and independence movements in
the Baltic states and Eastern Europe.
Two boys sit in front of the clinic in Shushi, a once-thriving mountain
town where most homes and buildings lie in ruin 12 years after the
ceasefire. Both Ohanyan and Hayrumyan say that too little attention
has been given to their homeland’s struggles and that even regional
media neglect to report about how the current political stalemate is
affecting people. “The Azerbaijan and Armenian media often feature
the lives of their citizens, but the way simple people live in the
conflict region gets little coverage,” Ohanyan says.
Karabakh-which means “black garden” and is also known in Armenian
as Artsak-was a majority Armenian area that in the earliest years of
the Soviet Union was incorporated into Azerbaijan. Tensions began to
grow in 1988 as the ethnic Armenians sought autonomy from Azerbaijan.
Soviet interior ministry forces were sent to quash the separatist
movement, but war broke out in the final months of the Soviet Union
in 1991
Christian Armenia backed Karabakh against mostly Muslim Azerbaijan.
The fighting, punctuated by accusations of ethnic cleansing and
forced expulsions on both sides, mirrored the ethnic conflicts in
the Balkans. Armenian forces and the Karabakh militia succeeded in
driving out the better-armed Azeri army before Russia brokered a
ceasefire in 1994.
As many as 30,000 people died in the conflict, and tens of thousands
of people were driven from their homes. Nearly everyone was affected by
the fighting in the enclave, which is the size of the American state of
Delaware. Hayrumyan’s husband was killed in 1992 during the conflict.
Karabakh declared independence from Azerbaijan and aligned itself
with Armenia, but the international community does not recognize it
as an independent republic. Talks have stalled on a lasting peace
deal despite renewed efforts earlier this year.
While Karabakh is largely peaceful today, scars of war remain. The
once-thriving mountain city of Shushi lies in ruin. Some 3,000 people
live there, about 10 percent of its population before the war.
While the media in Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan often wage
wars of rhetoric and nationalistic sentiment, that may be changing.
“Recently,” says Ohanyan, “there was a breakthrough in the independent
printed press, namely analytical and other information have appeared
covering the security issue. I figure it’s the opinions of people
in a story that can be nationalistic, but the story itself gives
fair coverage.”
Timothy Spence is a Knight Fellow working with journalists
in Armenia. This is his second tour with the program; he
was previously in Ethiopia. The John S. and James L. Knight
Foundation sponsors the fellowships, administered by the
International Center for Journalists. For more information, visit
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

GLO issued protest statement related to “World Armenian youth forum”
planned to be held in Khankendi on July 26
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
July 24, 2006
Garabagh Liberation Organization (GLO) issued protest statement related
to “World Armenian youth forum” planned to be held in Khankendi on
July 26.
Press service of the Organization has informed APA that the measure
was called in the statement as cheap show to propagandize alleged
Nagorno Garabagh Republic. Stating Armenian conducts to be beyond
the international law forms GLO leadership called on world states
not to participate in the measure. GLO considers that Azerbaijan
government should act to prevent insidious intentions of Armenia,
international organizations should not give chance to implementation of
this measure. Separate countries should withdraw their Armenian origin
citizens from joining this measure. Otherwise, GLO will demand stopping
the activities of those states in Azerbaijan who will participate in
that forum./APA/

Armenian foreign minister insists on existing of document on Garabagh negotiations table
Azeri Press Agency, Azerbaijan
July 24, 2006
Armenia’s foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan in a news conference today
said the US co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group Matthew Bryza is not
expected to offer a new proposal in his upcoming visit to the region.
APA reports quoting the Armenian media that the Armenian minister
expressed hope that Bryza will achieve making the Azerbaijani side
renegotiate on the document on the table of negotiations. Oskanyan said
Armenia has obviously expressed its stance regarding this document
while Azerbaijan has problems in this context. “If Baku agrees
to renegotiate on these principles, a new stage of the negotiating
process would start,” Oskanyan said. Armenian minister also said such
documents do not appear within a week but the result of long-term
negotiations, “If Azerbaijan appears to reject the proposal again,
the situation will seriously deteriorate.” He recalled conducting
of parliamentary elections in Armenia in 2007 forecasting that the
negotiation process would be difficult. Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry
spokesman Tahir Taghizadeh commented on Oskanyan’s statement on a
document on the negotiations table. He told the APA that Russian
co-chair of the Minsk Group Yuri Merzlyakov refuted the reports on
existing of any document on the table of talks. “I have no idea what
document Vardan Oskanyan is talking about. I think Oskanyan has no
idea about this either,” Taghizadeh said./APA/

Format of negotiations on peaceful solution of Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict not to be changed – Special EU Envoy
TREND Information, Azerbaijan
July 24, 2006
Author: A.Mammadov
The format of negotiations on the peaceful solution of Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict will not be changed – it will remain as OSCE Minsk Group,
Peter Semneby, the special envoy of European Union for South Caucasian
countries, told on July 24 at a joint press-conference with the
Armenian foreign minister Vardan Oskanyan.
“The possibility of changing the format isn’t discussed. OSCE Minsk
Group remains responsible for the talks,” told special envoy.
The Minsk Group has been functioning since 1992, Trend reports with
reference to ARKA. Its goal is to provide assistance to the settlement
of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. At the moment, the chairman-countries
of OSCE Minsk Group are Russia, France and USA.
Semneby arrived in Armenia on July 23. The visit will be completed
on July 25.
Peter Semneby was appointed to the position of special envoy of
European Union for South Caucasian countries on March 1, 2006.