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ARMENIAN PM WELCOMES TURKISH DIALOGUE
Gaziantep Haber, Turkey
April 28 2008
Armenia is ready to start dialogue with Turkey on improving relations
if Ankara does not set preconditions to talks, Armenia's new Prime
Minister Tigran Sarksyan said on Sunday.
The two neighbours have no diplomatic links after Ankara severed ties
in protest against Armenian control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region
over which Armenia fought Turkey's ally Azerbaijan in a war in the
early 1990s.
"I confirm the readiness of the government of Armenia to engage in
constructive dialogue and establish relations without preconditions,"
the press office of the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarksyan said
he wrote in a letter to Turkey.
An Armenian backed administration controls the Nagorno-Karabakh
region. Armenia and Azerbaijan are still officially at war over the
mountainous area.
Last week Turkey's foreign minister Ali Babacan said he had sent
Armenia a letter calling for dialogue.
Armenia is a mainly Christian state of around 3 million which lies
on the edge of the Caucasus which hosts a pipeline pumping oil to
Europe from Asia.
Armenia also accuses Turkey of genocide during at the end of World
War One.
Turkey denies the accusations and says that both Christian Armenians
and Muslim Turks died in fighting.
"I assure you that our efforts will be aimed at ensuring peace,
tolerance and stability in our region," Sarksyan told Turkey in
the letter.
Sarksyan took over as prime minister earlier this month. He had
previously been central bank chief.
Gaziantep Haber, Turkey
April 28 2008
Armenia is ready to start dialogue with Turkey on improving relations
if Ankara does not set preconditions to talks, Armenia's new Prime
Minister Tigran Sarksyan said on Sunday.
The two neighbours have no diplomatic links after Ankara severed ties
in protest against Armenian control of the Nagorno-Karabakh region
over which Armenia fought Turkey's ally Azerbaijan in a war in the
early 1990s.
"I confirm the readiness of the government of Armenia to engage in
constructive dialogue and establish relations without preconditions,"
the press office of the Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarksyan said
he wrote in a letter to Turkey.
An Armenian backed administration controls the Nagorno-Karabakh
region. Armenia and Azerbaijan are still officially at war over the
mountainous area.
Last week Turkey's foreign minister Ali Babacan said he had sent
Armenia a letter calling for dialogue.
Armenia is a mainly Christian state of around 3 million which lies
on the edge of the Caucasus which hosts a pipeline pumping oil to
Europe from Asia.
Armenia also accuses Turkey of genocide during at the end of World
War One.
Turkey denies the accusations and says that both Christian Armenians
and Muslim Turks died in fighting.
"I assure you that our efforts will be aimed at ensuring peace,
tolerance and stability in our region," Sarksyan told Turkey in
the letter.
Sarksyan took over as prime minister earlier this month. He had
previously been central bank chief.