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Armenian Foreign Minister: No Deal Yet In Turkey Border Talks

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  • Armenian Foreign Minister: No Deal Yet In Turkey Border Talks

    ARMENIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: NO DEAL YET IN TURKEY BORDER TALKS

    Agence France Presse
    April 16 2009

    Talks between Armenia and Turkey on establishing diplomatic ties and
    opening their border are making progress but no deal has been reached,
    Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian said Thursday.

    "There is no intention today for us to sign an agreement with
    the Turkish side. Negotiations continue," Nalbandian told a news
    conference. "There is progress and we think that we really may be
    very close to resolving this question in the near future," he said
    during a meeting of Black Sea region countries seeking closer economic
    cooperation. Media reports had speculated the two feuding countries
    may sign an agreement during Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan's
    visit to Armenia Thursday for the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
    meeting. Babacan didn't take part in the press conference and wasn't
    available for comment. His trip coincides with stepped-up efforts
    between Turkey and Armenia to resolve disputes stemming from a bloody
    history. Reconciliation talks between the countries, held away from
    public eye, gathered steam in September when President Abdullah Gul
    paid a landmark visit to Armenia, the first by a Turkish leader,
    to watch a football match. But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
    Erdogan last week ruled out a deal with Armenia unless Yerevan
    resolved its conflict with Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorny
    Karabakh region. Azerbaijan has expressed concern Turkey may be
    setting aside the Karabakh question in its talks with Armenia.

    Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia because
    of Yerevan's international campaign to have the mass killings of
    Armenians under the Ottoman Empire recognized as genocide. In 1993,
    Turkey also shut its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity with
    close ally Azerbaijan over the Karabakh conflict, dealing a serious
    economic blow to the impoverished Caucasian nation. During a visit to
    Turkey this month, U.S. President Barack Obama urged both countries to
    "move forward" in their talks and signaled he wouldn't interfere in
    their dispute over Armenia's genocide claims.
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