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ARMENIAN FM TO HOLD FRESH TALKS WITH TURKISH COUNTERPART IN ISTANBUL
www.asbarez.com/index.html?showarticle=4 1132_4/3/2009_1
Friday, April 3, 2009
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--Official Yerevan confirmed on Friday that
Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian will visit Istanbul early next week,
giving more credence to reports that Armenia and Turkey are close to
normalizing their historically strained relations.
The official purpose of Nalbandian's trip announced by his press
office is to participate in the second Alliance of Civilizations
conference that begins its work in Turkey's largest city on Monday. The
UN-sponsored forum is to be attended by heads of states and other
high-ranking representatives of some 30 countries.
Diplomatic sources in Yerevan said Nalbandian will likely meet
with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on the sidelines of the
gathering. The two men have held a dozen face-to-face meetings since
the start of the unprecedented Turkish-Armenian rapprochement about
a year ago.
Their fresh talks will come on the heels of Western and Turkish media
reports that Ankara and Yerevan are poised to announce an agreement
that commits them to gradually establishing full diplomatic relations
and reopening their border. According to some Turkish newspapers,
the agreement could be signed during or shortly after Nalbandian's
trip to Istanbul.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry would not comment on these reports on
Friday. A ministry spokesman, Tigran Balayan, said only that it is
"cautiously optimistic" about the normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations. "Armenia has gone a long way in negotiating with Turkey, and
we hope to bring our constructive dialogue to a logical conclusion,"
he told RFE/RL.
Incidentally, U.S. President Barack Obama will also be in Turkey
on April 6-7. Turkish-Armenian relations are expected to be on the
agenda of his talks with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish leaders hope that the prospect of
their normalization will discourage Obama from honoring his election
campaign pledges to recognizes the 1915 mass killings of Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, however, has refused to attend
an international meeting in Istanbul, a move that can be seen as
a protest against the prospect of the border being opened between
Armenia and Turkey, the Turkish Hurriyet daily reported Friday,
citing the Azeri Press Agency.
The report said the refusal may also be connected with Aliyev's work
schedule, adding it is likely that Ankara's refusal to take a stance
on reports regarding the reopening of the borders between Turkey and
Armenia may be the main reason.
Azeri officials had already expressed concerns over the prospect of the
border being reopened and some media reports suggested that Baku might
even go one step further in halting the sale of natural gas to Turkey.
Azeri officials say that opening the border before the withdrawal
of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan would
run counter to country's national interests.
According to CNN Turk, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said earlier
this week that the Turkish Armenian border would not be opened until
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was resolved.
www.asbarez.com/index.html?showarticle=4 1132_4/3/2009_1
Friday, April 3, 2009
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)--Official Yerevan confirmed on Friday that
Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian will visit Istanbul early next week,
giving more credence to reports that Armenia and Turkey are close to
normalizing their historically strained relations.
The official purpose of Nalbandian's trip announced by his press
office is to participate in the second Alliance of Civilizations
conference that begins its work in Turkey's largest city on Monday. The
UN-sponsored forum is to be attended by heads of states and other
high-ranking representatives of some 30 countries.
Diplomatic sources in Yerevan said Nalbandian will likely meet
with Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan on the sidelines of the
gathering. The two men have held a dozen face-to-face meetings since
the start of the unprecedented Turkish-Armenian rapprochement about
a year ago.
Their fresh talks will come on the heels of Western and Turkish media
reports that Ankara and Yerevan are poised to announce an agreement
that commits them to gradually establishing full diplomatic relations
and reopening their border. According to some Turkish newspapers,
the agreement could be signed during or shortly after Nalbandian's
trip to Istanbul.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry would not comment on these reports on
Friday. A ministry spokesman, Tigran Balayan, said only that it is
"cautiously optimistic" about the normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations. "Armenia has gone a long way in negotiating with Turkey, and
we hope to bring our constructive dialogue to a logical conclusion,"
he told RFE/RL.
Incidentally, U.S. President Barack Obama will also be in Turkey
on April 6-7. Turkish-Armenian relations are expected to be on the
agenda of his talks with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Turkish leaders hope that the prospect of
their normalization will discourage Obama from honoring his election
campaign pledges to recognizes the 1915 mass killings of Armenians
in the Ottoman Empire as genocide.
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, however, has refused to attend
an international meeting in Istanbul, a move that can be seen as
a protest against the prospect of the border being opened between
Armenia and Turkey, the Turkish Hurriyet daily reported Friday,
citing the Azeri Press Agency.
The report said the refusal may also be connected with Aliyev's work
schedule, adding it is likely that Ankara's refusal to take a stance
on reports regarding the reopening of the borders between Turkey and
Armenia may be the main reason.
Azeri officials had already expressed concerns over the prospect of the
border being reopened and some media reports suggested that Baku might
even go one step further in halting the sale of natural gas to Turkey.
Azeri officials say that opening the border before the withdrawal
of Armenian troops from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan would
run counter to country's national interests.
According to CNN Turk, Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan said earlier
this week that the Turkish Armenian border would not be opened until
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was resolved.