May 6, 2005 - 09:03 AMT
GEORGE BUSH TO CALL YEREVAN AND BAKU TO FOLLOW GEORGIA'S EXAMPLE
The US President Administration informed that during his visit to Tbilisi next week George Bush will mark Georgia as a state that transformed to democracy and whose example should be followed by Armenia and Azerbaijan, RFE/RL reported. The officials of the US Administration noted that Bush's support to the policy pursued by the Georgian leadership after the rose revolution should not be perceived as a call for an analogous change of ruling regime in Yerevan and Baku. Moreover, Washington does not consider the change of power to be a necessary condition for democratic reforms in Armenia and Azerbaijan. The US will collaborate with the governments of two states to make the "next elections more democratic". "We welcome reforms both in power structures and beyond them. Opposition forced should be engaged in peaceful democratic processes in Armenia and Azerbaijan ", the source noted. It should be noted that George Bush will be the first US President to visit the South Caucasus.