Tweet
DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH TURKEY WITHIN REACH, SAYS ARMENIA
The Daily Star
April 17 2009
Lebanon
Armenia said on Thursday it was close to establishing diplomatic
relations with Turkey after a century of hostility, but Turkish ally
Azerbaijan stressed its opposition. High-level talks between Ankara
and Yerevan began last year and expectations have been rising of a
deal that could include Turkey opening its border with Armenia.
YEREVAN: Armenia said on Thursday it was close to establishing
diplomatic relations with Turkey after a century of hostility, but
Turkish ally Azerbaijan stressed its opposition.
High-level talks between Ankara and Yerevan began last year and
expectations have been rising of a deal that could include Turkey
opening its border with Armenia. Turkey hopes a deal on Armenia will
improve its chances of joining the EU.
"The negotiations are ongoing and progress has been registered," Edward
Nalbandian, the Armenian foreign minister, told reporters during a
Black Sea economic conference attended by his Turkish counterpart
Ali Babacan.
"We think we can really get close and resolve this question in
the near future." Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993
in support of its traditional Muslim ally Azerbaijan, which was
fighting Armenian-backed separatists in the breakaway region of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkey and Armenia trace their own dispute to the World War I killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, which Armenia describes as genocide.
But diplomats say Turkish concern over the potential backlash in
Azerbaijan could yet delay the deal.
Azerbaijan, a supplier of oil and gas to Europe, insists any deal
between Turkey and Armenia can only follow concessions from Armenia on
Nagorno-Karabakh, where a fragile ceasefire holds but a peace accord
has never been signed.
Speaking to reporters on his plane to Yerevan, Babacan said: "We want
a comprehensive solution and full normalization. We want a solution
based on a wide perspective." Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said this month the deadlock over Nagorno-Karabakh should be resolved
before any deal is struck between Turkey and Armenia.
Western diplomats are concerned that Azerbaijan, in retaliation for the
border reopening, might be unwilling to sell its gas in future through
Turkey to Europe, and instead send most of it to Russia for re-export.
"The establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey can be
connected only by resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Azeri
Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mammad-Guliev said in Yerevan.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev was in Moscow on Thursday, three weeks
after Azeri state energy firm Socar signed a memorandum with Russian
gas-export monopoly Gazprom about starting talks on Russia buying
Azeri gas for export to Europe from 2010.
Both the EU and US President Barack Obama have urged Turkey to
normalize ties with Armenia. - Reuters
The Daily Star
April 17 2009
Lebanon
Armenia said on Thursday it was close to establishing diplomatic
relations with Turkey after a century of hostility, but Turkish ally
Azerbaijan stressed its opposition. High-level talks between Ankara
and Yerevan began last year and expectations have been rising of a
deal that could include Turkey opening its border with Armenia.
YEREVAN: Armenia said on Thursday it was close to establishing
diplomatic relations with Turkey after a century of hostility, but
Turkish ally Azerbaijan stressed its opposition.
High-level talks between Ankara and Yerevan began last year and
expectations have been rising of a deal that could include Turkey
opening its border with Armenia. Turkey hopes a deal on Armenia will
improve its chances of joining the EU.
"The negotiations are ongoing and progress has been registered," Edward
Nalbandian, the Armenian foreign minister, told reporters during a
Black Sea economic conference attended by his Turkish counterpart
Ali Babacan.
"We think we can really get close and resolve this question in
the near future." Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993
in support of its traditional Muslim ally Azerbaijan, which was
fighting Armenian-backed separatists in the breakaway region of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Turkey and Armenia trace their own dispute to the World War I killing
of Armenians by Ottoman Turks, which Armenia describes as genocide.
But diplomats say Turkish concern over the potential backlash in
Azerbaijan could yet delay the deal.
Azerbaijan, a supplier of oil and gas to Europe, insists any deal
between Turkey and Armenia can only follow concessions from Armenia on
Nagorno-Karabakh, where a fragile ceasefire holds but a peace accord
has never been signed.
Speaking to reporters on his plane to Yerevan, Babacan said: "We want
a comprehensive solution and full normalization. We want a solution
based on a wide perspective." Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan
said this month the deadlock over Nagorno-Karabakh should be resolved
before any deal is struck between Turkey and Armenia.
Western diplomats are concerned that Azerbaijan, in retaliation for the
border reopening, might be unwilling to sell its gas in future through
Turkey to Europe, and instead send most of it to Russia for re-export.
"The establishment of relations between Armenia and Turkey can be
connected only by resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict," Azeri
Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmoud Mammad-Guliev said in Yerevan.
Azeri President Ilham Aliyev was in Moscow on Thursday, three weeks
after Azeri state energy firm Socar signed a memorandum with Russian
gas-export monopoly Gazprom about starting talks on Russia buying
Azeri gas for export to Europe from 2010.
Both the EU and US President Barack Obama have urged Turkey to
normalize ties with Armenia. - Reuters