He told journalists today that if fair and transparent elections were held in Armenia, he could figure on 80% of suffrages.

January 16 Israeli ambassador to Armenia Rivka Kohen, whose mansion-house is in Tbilisi, will arrive in Armenia on a working visit.

Today in Berlin Armenian president Robert Kocharian and German vice Chancellor, minister of foreign affairs Joschka Fischer discussed the problem of settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, regional developments in the South Caucasus, as well as the prospects of normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey within the context of the latter's integration in the European Union.

Sarkis Assadourian, chairman of the Canada-Armenia parliamentary friendship group, senior member of the standing committee on foreign affairs and international trade was today named by prime minister Jean Chrétien as Parliamentary Secretary to Dennis Coderre, minister of citizenship and immigration.

A special sitting of the expanded bureau of the Council of Europe Committee of Representatives devoted to the Nagorno Karabakh settlement will be held in Strasbourg January 23.

The laws passed in that field by the country parliament only create a semblance of compliance with European standards, while in practice serving the interests of the ruling elite, the human rights proponent Arzu Abdulaeva emphasized.

Foreign minister of Azerbaijan Vilayat Guliyev said.

The "troika" includes representatives of the EU countries presiding in the past, at present and in the future.

In Azeri foreign minister Vilayat Guliyev's words, deputy foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia will continue consultations within the framework of the Nagorno Karabakh peace process.

Russian president Vladimir Putin and Armenian president Robert Kocharian will be present at the concert of the Armenian Philharmonic Orchestra on the stage of the Bolshoi Theatre of Moscow.