SOUTH CAUCASUS MPs TO MEET IN SCOTLAND
Posted on Friday, December 12 2003
From 16-20 December thirty Members of Parliament from the three countries of the South Caucasus will be meeting in Scotland to discuss regional differences. The delegations of Parliamentarians from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia will meet in the framework of the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative, an ad hoc process for dialogue between the three Parliaments that was launched in March 2001 by LINKS, a London based non-governmental organisation. The Parliamentarians will arrive in Edinburgh, where they will visit the Scottish Parliament and will then hold further discussions in Speyside, Moray, which will focus on the issue of Nagorny Karabakh. The meeting in Scotland will be opened by the Presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, Mr George Reid MSP and will also be addressed by Sir brian Fall, the United Kingdom Special Representative on the South Caucasus, as well as representatives of other british and European institutions. The Scotland meeting comes at a critical time for the Southern Caucasus, in the wake of the elections which have been held in all three countries during the course of this year, culminating in the Georgian elections last month and the subsequent resignation of President Shevardnadze. The area is still beset with regional conflicts, and faces great political, economic and environmental challenges. The Scotland meeting will provide a rare opportunity for Parliamentarians from the three countries to address some of these issues in a regional framework. In particular the meeting will provide for the first bilateral discussion between the Parliaments of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the thorny issue of the conflict around Nagorny Karabakh, with the aim of instituting confidence-building measures to help the process of conflict resolution. The South Caucasus delegations will include politicians from across the political spectrum, with both government and opposition parties present. This will make the meeting one of the most representative gatherings of its kind. Scotland provides an excellent venue for this meeting, given the geographic similarities, as well as the lessons that it can offer on peaceful constitutional debate and change. Co-operation between the countries of the South Caucasus remains an elusive objective but for a short while in Scotland the Parliaments of the three countries will provide a rare example of it when they come together to put up a football team to play a Scottish side as one of the many side events being planned as part of the programme.
SOUTH CAUCASUS MPs TO MEET IN SCOTLAND
Posted on Friday, December 12 2003
From 16-20 December thirty Members of Parliament from the three countries of the South Caucasus will be meeting in Scotland to discuss regional differences. The delegations of Parliamentarians from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia will meet in the framework of the South Caucasus Parliamentary Initiative, an ad hoc process for dialogue between the three Parliaments that was launched in March 2001 by LINKS, a London based non-governmental organisation. The Parliamentarians will arrive in Edinburgh, where they will visit the Scottish Parliament and will then hold further discussions in Speyside, Moray, which will focus on the issue of Nagorny Karabakh. The meeting in Scotland will be opened by the Presiding officer of the Scottish Parliament, Mr George Reid MSP and will also be addressed by Sir brian Fall, the United Kingdom Special Representative on the South Caucasus, as well as representatives of other british and European institutions. The Scotland meeting comes at a critical time for the Southern Caucasus, in the wake of the elections which have been held in all three countries during the course of this year, culminating in the Georgian elections last month and the subsequent resignation of President Shevardnadze. The area is still beset with regional conflicts, and faces great political, economic and environmental challenges. The Scotland meeting will provide a rare opportunity for Parliamentarians from the three countries to address some of these issues in a regional framework. In particular the meeting will provide for the first bilateral discussion between the Parliaments of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the thorny issue of the conflict around Nagorny Karabakh, with the aim of instituting confidence-building measures to help the process of conflict resolution. The South Caucasus delegations will include politicians from across the political spectrum, with both government and opposition parties present. This will make the meeting one of the most representative gatherings of its kind. Scotland provides an excellent venue for this meeting, given the geographic similarities, as well as the lessons that it can offer on peaceful constitutional debate and change. Co-operation between the countries of the South Caucasus remains an elusive objective but for a short while in Scotland the Parliaments of the three countries will provide a rare example of it when they come together to put up a football team to play a Scottish side as one of the many side events being planned as part of the programme.
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