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Armenian president calls on Turkey to open border

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  • Armenian president calls on Turkey to open border

    Armenian president calls on Turkey to open border

    Die Welt, Hamburg
    19 Nov 04

    Armenian President Robert Kocharyan has called on Turkey to resume
    bilateral relations with Armenia. Interviewed by German newspaper Die
    Welt, Kocharyan said that Turkey's closure of the border with Armenia
    could only be described as "harassment". Kocharyan said that Turkey's
    recognition of the Armenian genocide was very important but not a
    condition for developing bilateral relations. The following is the
    text of Dietrich Alexander's interview with Kocharyan in Die Welt on
    19 November, headlined "You can only call that harassment";
    subheadings inserted editorially:

    Armenian-European cooperation

    [Alexander] What do you expect from Germany and the EU?

    [Kocharyan] Germany has helped include the southern Caucasus into
    Europe's New Neighbourhood programme. We now expect this programme to
    be filled with concrete substance to make it interesting for the
    entire region.

    [Alexander] So the EU should become a stabilizing factor in the
    southern Caucasus?

    [Kocharyan] Yes, the partnership with the EU would have a stabilizing
    effect, speed up reform processes in the region and promote
    cooperation between the Caucasus states, since everybody would share
    the same objectives.

    [Alexander] Is your country's objective to become an EU member?

    [Kocharyan] We regard ourselves as part of Europe, are a member of the
    Council of Europe and cooperate with the European nations in the
    OSCE. Our reforms aim at achieving European standards. At one point
    this question will become an issue.

    [Alexander] And NATO membership...?

    [Kocharyan] ... is not on our agenda [ellipses as published].

    Armenian-Turkish relations should resume without conditions

    [Alexander] The border between Turkey and your country has been closed
    for 11 years. How problematic are relations?

    [Kocharyan] Actually, we have no relations, not even at the diplomatic
    level. The border does not work, there is no trade. Turkey is
    virtually putting a blockade on Armenia. One can only describe it as
    harassment. We are of the opinion that we should assume bilateral
    relations without any conditions. The current situation is anything
    but normal.

    [Alexander] So you do not expect Ankara to apologize for the arrest,
    deportation and murder of hundreds of thousands of Armenians, which
    the Young Turks' movement started in 1915?

    [Kocharyan] For us the recognition of the genocide of the Armenians is
    very important, but it will never be a condition for developing
    bilateral relations.

    [Alexander] At the end of a possible normalization of your
    relationship with Turkey there would have to be some sort of
    admittance of guilt on the part of Turkey, wouldn't there?

    [Kocharyan] It would significantly change the atmosphere. The crime is
    a fact that cannot be denied. If Ankara were to recognize this fact,
    it would mean a major step toward normalization.

    [Alexander] What is your explanation for Turkey's blockade? The
    closeness with your other neighbour, Turkmen [as published]
    Azerbaijan, or because the Armenians are something like Turkey's
    personalized bad conscience?

    [Kocharyan] The bad conscience may play a role in Turkey's
    consciousness. Yet, Ankara is now trying to link the blockade of
    Armenia to the settlement of the problem concerning the enclave
    [German: die Enklave] of Nagornyy Karabakh in Azerbaijan. We think
    that the relationship between our country and Turkey should in no way
    be dictated by relations with a third country. After all, we are not
    making our relations with Turkey dependent on the solution of the
    Cyprus problem.

    [Alexander] Then you would have to welcome Turkey's EU entry, which
    would give the Armenians a "normal" border.

    [Kocharyan] Turkey would naturally be more predictable if it were in
    the EU. And Armenia would have a direct border with the EU. Yet, we
    think that a country with which entry talks are opened must not block
    one of its neighbours. If negotiations were started under such
    conditions, it would somehow accept the current state. So far
    negotiations have never been opened with any other country under such
    conditions. This is what we fear and are concerned about. It is unfair
    to base one's own luck on somebody else's misfortune.
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