Today chief of the Armenian armed forces general staff, colonel-general Mikael Harutyunian flew to Istanbul to take part in the VIP meeting to be held within the framework of the "Allied Action-2003" NATO exercise. As reported by Mediamax agency, the visit took place due to the invitation issued by the commander-in-chief of the NATO North Command in Europe. This is the first visit paid by the representative of the Armenian armed forces to Turkey, as no diplomatic relations are established between the two countries. "Allied Action-2003 multinational command-staff exercise started in Istanbul November 3. 2000 soldiers from 17 NATO member-states, 6 countries possessing official invitation to became the NATO member-country as well as 10 partner-countries of the North Atlantic Bloc are participating in the exercise. The maneuvers aim at working out the regulations and preparation of multinational measures directed to counteraction to crisis situations created in the conventional countries located beyond the NATO territory.