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TURKISH FM AND ARMENIAN LEADER MEET IN KIEV
Hurriyet
Feb 25 2010
Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian met in Kiev on Thursday.
The Turkish foreign minister told reporters after the meeting that he
had had the opportunity to talk to the Armenian president about the
Turkish-Armenian relationship normalization process, and developments
in the Caucasus.
"We reviewed the Turkish -Armenian normalization relationship in
its entirity with open hearts today including our anxieties and
the obstacles we face," Davutoglu said. "We spoke about Armenian-
Azerbaijan relations and the activities of the Minsk Group as related
to the Karabakh issue," he said.
"I also had the opportunity to tell Mr. Sarkisian about Turkey's
vision for the region," he said.
Davutoglu said this was the first meeting between him and Sarkisian
after a controversial decision from the Armenian Constitutional Court
slowed down progress made after the two countries signed protocols
to restore diplomatic ties.
The Armenian parliament Thursday made it easy for Yerevan to scrap
the protocols signed with Turkey by passing amendments that will
allow President Serge Sarkisian to suspend ratification and withdraw
from previously signed international agreements. The amendments were
passed by a vote of 70 to 4. The move comes amid growing frustration in
Armenia over the Turkish Parliament's failure to ratify the protocols
signed in October.
The signing of the deals was hailed internationally as a key step in
overcoming decades of enmity stemming from World War I-era killings
of Armenians under the late days of the Ottoman Empire.
Ratification by both countries' parliaments stalled as the two sides
traded accusations of attempts to modify the deal.
Ankara has accused Yerevan of trying to set new conditions after
Armenia's Constitutional Court said the protocols could not contradict
Yerevan's official position that the Armenian killings constituted
"genocide" - a label Turkey fiercely rejects.
Armenia, for its part, is furious over Ankara's insistence that
normalizing Turkish-Armenian ties depends on progress in resolving
the conflict between Armenia and Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the
disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan after ethnic Armenian forces wrested Nagorno-Karabakh from
Baku's control in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.
The conflict remains unresolved despite years of international
mediation
Hurriyet
Feb 25 2010
Turkey
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Armenian President Serge
Sarkisian met in Kiev on Thursday.
The Turkish foreign minister told reporters after the meeting that he
had had the opportunity to talk to the Armenian president about the
Turkish-Armenian relationship normalization process, and developments
in the Caucasus.
"We reviewed the Turkish -Armenian normalization relationship in
its entirity with open hearts today including our anxieties and
the obstacles we face," Davutoglu said. "We spoke about Armenian-
Azerbaijan relations and the activities of the Minsk Group as related
to the Karabakh issue," he said.
"I also had the opportunity to tell Mr. Sarkisian about Turkey's
vision for the region," he said.
Davutoglu said this was the first meeting between him and Sarkisian
after a controversial decision from the Armenian Constitutional Court
slowed down progress made after the two countries signed protocols
to restore diplomatic ties.
The Armenian parliament Thursday made it easy for Yerevan to scrap
the protocols signed with Turkey by passing amendments that will
allow President Serge Sarkisian to suspend ratification and withdraw
from previously signed international agreements. The amendments were
passed by a vote of 70 to 4. The move comes amid growing frustration in
Armenia over the Turkish Parliament's failure to ratify the protocols
signed in October.
The signing of the deals was hailed internationally as a key step in
overcoming decades of enmity stemming from World War I-era killings
of Armenians under the late days of the Ottoman Empire.
Ratification by both countries' parliaments stalled as the two sides
traded accusations of attempts to modify the deal.
Ankara has accused Yerevan of trying to set new conditions after
Armenia's Constitutional Court said the protocols could not contradict
Yerevan's official position that the Armenian killings constituted
"genocide" - a label Turkey fiercely rejects.
Armenia, for its part, is furious over Ankara's insistence that
normalizing Turkish-Armenian ties depends on progress in resolving
the conflict between Armenia and Turkish ally Azerbaijan over the
disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan after ethnic Armenian forces wrested Nagorno-Karabakh from
Baku's control in a war that claimed an estimated 30,000 lives.
The conflict remains unresolved despite years of international
mediation