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ARMENIA, TURKEY TO SIGN HISTORIC AGREEMENT
RIA Novosti
Oct 10, 2009
MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - The foreign ministers of Turkey
and Armenia are expected to sign an agreement on diplomatic relations
in Zurich on Saturday.
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov, as well as their French counterpart Bernard Kouchner and
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will attend the signing ceremony.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently told The Wall
Street Journal that Turkey is ready to sign a pact on October 10
on reopening its border with Armenia and reestablishing relations,
if Armenia does not insist on last-minute changes to the draft.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support
for Muslim ally Azerbaijan, following a bloody conflict over Nagorny
Karabakh between the two ex-Soviet republics. Turkey has also demanded
that Yerevan drop its campaign to have the mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks in 1915 internationally recognized as genocide.
Armenia and Turkey agreed to a "roadmap" to normalize their relations
under Swiss mediation this April. The draft pact between the countries
has been backed by the United States and European Union.
Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet
republics since the late 1980s. The province has its own government
and is de facto independent.
During his recent international visit, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan met with representatives of Armenian diasporas in different
countries, and many of them expressed their opposition to the signing
of a Turkish-Armenian agreement.
RIA Novosti
Oct 10, 2009
MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - The foreign ministers of Turkey
and Armenia are expected to sign an agreement on diplomatic relations
in Zurich on Saturday.
U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov, as well as their French counterpart Bernard Kouchner and
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will attend the signing ceremony.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently told The Wall
Street Journal that Turkey is ready to sign a pact on October 10
on reopening its border with Armenia and reestablishing relations,
if Armenia does not insist on last-minute changes to the draft.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of support
for Muslim ally Azerbaijan, following a bloody conflict over Nagorny
Karabakh between the two ex-Soviet republics. Turkey has also demanded
that Yerevan drop its campaign to have the mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks in 1915 internationally recognized as genocide.
Armenia and Turkey agreed to a "roadmap" to normalize their relations
under Swiss mediation this April. The draft pact between the countries
has been backed by the United States and European Union.
Nagorny Karabakh, a region in Azerbaijan with a largely Armenian
population, has been a source of conflict between the former Soviet
republics since the late 1980s. The province has its own government
and is de facto independent.
During his recent international visit, Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan met with representatives of Armenian diasporas in different
countries, and many of them expressed their opposition to the signing
of a Turkish-Armenian agreement.