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TURKEY MAY OPEN ARMENIA BORDER FOR NATO DRILL, REPORT SAYS
Hurriyet
July 15 2010
Turkey
The NATO field drill will be based on the fictitious scenario of a
serious civil emergency arising. AFP photo
A NATO disaster-relief exercise in Armenia may also provide an
opportunity for a trial run at opening the long-closed border between
Turkey and the former Soviet republic, daily Hurriyet reported
Thursday.
"We will be taking part in the exercise" to be held in Armenia
from Sept. 11 to 17, a Turkish diplomat told Agence France-Presse
on Thursday on condition of anonymity. "We are looking into the
possibility of whether the border may be opened if such a necessity
arises. There has been no decision yet."
If requested to do so, Turkey might allow the passage of NATO equipment
through the Dogukapı crossing in the northeastern province of Kars
for a six-day humanitarian exercise in Armenia's Lori Mar region,
daily Hurriyet wrote, quoting Turkish diplomatic sources as saying
that any border opening would be temporary.
The governor's office in Kars has prepared a report on the possible
opening at the Foreign Ministry's request, Hurriyet wrote, adding
that the report concluded the highways and railroads on the Turkish
side of the closed border were in good condition and the crossing
could stay open for at least a month.
According to AFP, the Turkish diplomat said authorities are
investigating whether the infrastructure of the border area is suitable
for use during the Armenia 2010 Exercise, a drill based on a scenario
of a post-earthquake civil emergency that is being organized by NATO's
Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center, or EADRCC.
The news of Turkey's participation in the drill and the potential
border opening was first revealed by daily Radikal columnist Murat
Yetkin in an article that ran in that paper Wednesday, and was
translated for publication Thursday in the Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review.
The possible opening of the Dogukapı border crossing is seen as
a potential thaw not only in tense Turkish-Armenian relations, but
also in Armenian-Azerbaijani ties ahead of a key meeting between the
foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Hurriyet wrote.
The top diplomats are set to meet in the Kazakh city of Almaty on the
sidelines of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
or OSCE, ministerial summit to be held Friday and Saturday.
Crossing won't stay open for Van ceremony
The EADRCC field exercise, including a command post element, training
and a demonstration day, will be based on the fictitious scenario of
a serious civil emergency arising in the Armenian city of Arzni.
Up to 1,000 participants from NATO and partner nations, as well as
representatives and observers from other countries and international
organizations, are expected to take part in the drill, which is
held annually to practice disaster-response mechanisms and enhance
cooperation in emergency situations. According to Hurriyet, Turkey
is planning to send a group of three or four people to participate
in the exercise.
The possibility of a temporary opening of the border for the NATO
drill has prompted speculation that the crossing might be allowed
to stay open to allow Armenians to travel overland to a September
ceremony at the ancient Surp Hac Church on Akdamar Island, in the
eastern Turkish city of Van. The Turkish diplomat told AFP, however,
that "this is out of the question."
Some 5,000 people are expected to be in Van for the first religious
service in many decades at the centuries-old Armenian church, which
the Turkish government has allowed to open once a year for such events.
A century of hostility
Turkey and Armenia have engaged in high-level negotiations to end
nearly a century of hostility, talks that have included discussion of
reopening the border, but the process stalled after Yerevan froze its
ratification of the historic diplomatic protocols, accusing Ankara
of dragging its feet by demanding the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute be
settled first.
A flashpoint of the Caucasus, the Nagorno-Karabakh region is a
constituent part of Azerbaijan, occupied since the end of 1994 by
Armenia. While internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory,
the enclave has declared itself an independent republic and is
administered as a de facto part of Armenia.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan, which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The border closure has exacerbated already-high tensions over Armenia's
claims that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the final
days of the Ottoman Empire in what Yerevan says amounted to genocide.
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet
July 15 2010
Turkey
The NATO field drill will be based on the fictitious scenario of a
serious civil emergency arising. AFP photo
A NATO disaster-relief exercise in Armenia may also provide an
opportunity for a trial run at opening the long-closed border between
Turkey and the former Soviet republic, daily Hurriyet reported
Thursday.
"We will be taking part in the exercise" to be held in Armenia
from Sept. 11 to 17, a Turkish diplomat told Agence France-Presse
on Thursday on condition of anonymity. "We are looking into the
possibility of whether the border may be opened if such a necessity
arises. There has been no decision yet."
If requested to do so, Turkey might allow the passage of NATO equipment
through the Dogukapı crossing in the northeastern province of Kars
for a six-day humanitarian exercise in Armenia's Lori Mar region,
daily Hurriyet wrote, quoting Turkish diplomatic sources as saying
that any border opening would be temporary.
The governor's office in Kars has prepared a report on the possible
opening at the Foreign Ministry's request, Hurriyet wrote, adding
that the report concluded the highways and railroads on the Turkish
side of the closed border were in good condition and the crossing
could stay open for at least a month.
According to AFP, the Turkish diplomat said authorities are
investigating whether the infrastructure of the border area is suitable
for use during the Armenia 2010 Exercise, a drill based on a scenario
of a post-earthquake civil emergency that is being organized by NATO's
Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center, or EADRCC.
The news of Turkey's participation in the drill and the potential
border opening was first revealed by daily Radikal columnist Murat
Yetkin in an article that ran in that paper Wednesday, and was
translated for publication Thursday in the Hurriyet Daily News &
Economic Review.
The possible opening of the Dogukapı border crossing is seen as
a potential thaw not only in tense Turkish-Armenian relations, but
also in Armenian-Azerbaijani ties ahead of a key meeting between the
foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Hurriyet wrote.
The top diplomats are set to meet in the Kazakh city of Almaty on the
sidelines of an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
or OSCE, ministerial summit to be held Friday and Saturday.
Crossing won't stay open for Van ceremony
The EADRCC field exercise, including a command post element, training
and a demonstration day, will be based on the fictitious scenario of
a serious civil emergency arising in the Armenian city of Arzni.
Up to 1,000 participants from NATO and partner nations, as well as
representatives and observers from other countries and international
organizations, are expected to take part in the drill, which is
held annually to practice disaster-response mechanisms and enhance
cooperation in emergency situations. According to Hurriyet, Turkey
is planning to send a group of three or four people to participate
in the exercise.
The possibility of a temporary opening of the border for the NATO
drill has prompted speculation that the crossing might be allowed
to stay open to allow Armenians to travel overland to a September
ceremony at the ancient Surp Hac Church on Akdamar Island, in the
eastern Turkish city of Van. The Turkish diplomat told AFP, however,
that "this is out of the question."
Some 5,000 people are expected to be in Van for the first religious
service in many decades at the centuries-old Armenian church, which
the Turkish government has allowed to open once a year for such events.
A century of hostility
Turkey and Armenia have engaged in high-level negotiations to end
nearly a century of hostility, talks that have included discussion of
reopening the border, but the process stalled after Yerevan froze its
ratification of the historic diplomatic protocols, accusing Ankara
of dragging its feet by demanding the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute be
settled first.
A flashpoint of the Caucasus, the Nagorno-Karabakh region is a
constituent part of Azerbaijan, occupied since the end of 1994 by
Armenia. While internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory,
the enclave has declared itself an independent republic and is
administered as a de facto part of Armenia.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with
Azerbaijan, which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists over the
Nagorno-Karabakh region.
The border closure has exacerbated already-high tensions over Armenia's
claims that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed during the final
days of the Ottoman Empire in what Yerevan says amounted to genocide.
From: A. Papazian