Tweet
Agence France Presse
July 15, 2010 Thursday 9:06 AM GMT
Turkey may open Armenia border for NATO exercise: diplomat
Ankara, July 15 2010
Turkey is considering whether to temporarily open its border with
Armenia for a NATO disaster relief exercise in September, a Turkish
diplomat said Thursday.
"We will be taking part in the exercise," to be held in Armenia on
September 11-17, the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We are looking into the possibility on whether the border may be
opened if such a necessity arises.... There has been no decision yet,"
she said.
The frontier has been sealed for 17 years due to political tensions
between the two neighbours, long estranged over Armenian allegations
that their kin were the victim of genocide at the hands of Ottoman
Turks during World War I.
The diplomat said the authorities were looking into whether the
infrastructure of the border area was suitable for use during the NATO
drills, to be based on a scenario of civil emergency after an
earthquake.
Re-opening the border was a key item in a historic deal Turkey and
Armenia signed in October to establish diplomatic ties.
But the process stalled in April when Yerevan halted ratification of
the accord on the grounds that Ankara was not truely committed to its
terms.
The Today's Zaman newspaper reported Thursday that Ankara was in
favour of opening the frontier for the exercise.
"During technical discussions at NATO headquarters in Brussels a while
ago, when such a possibility was raised by NATO officials, the Turkish
side responded favorably," unnamed sources told the daily.
The drills will be held in Armenia's Kotayq region with up to 1,000
participants from NATO member and partner countries, according to
NATO's Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre, which
organises the event.
Asked about suggestions the border might remain open to allow Armenian
pilgrims to cross shortly afterwards for a mass at a historic Armenian
church in eastern Turkey, the diplomat told AFP that "this is out of
the question."
Hundreds are expected to travel to Turkey for the September 19 mass at
the Church of the Holy Cross, a 10th-century edifice on a lake island
in Van province, which is currently a museum.
Ankara gave permission for the service in a gesture of good will to Armenians.
Turkey sealed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan after Yerevan-backed ethnic Armenian separatists
seized the Nagorny Karabakh region from Baku in a war that claimed an
estimated 30,000 lives.
From: A. Papazian
July 15, 2010 Thursday 9:06 AM GMT
Turkey may open Armenia border for NATO exercise: diplomat
Ankara, July 15 2010
Turkey is considering whether to temporarily open its border with
Armenia for a NATO disaster relief exercise in September, a Turkish
diplomat said Thursday.
"We will be taking part in the exercise," to be held in Armenia on
September 11-17, the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We are looking into the possibility on whether the border may be
opened if such a necessity arises.... There has been no decision yet,"
she said.
The frontier has been sealed for 17 years due to political tensions
between the two neighbours, long estranged over Armenian allegations
that their kin were the victim of genocide at the hands of Ottoman
Turks during World War I.
The diplomat said the authorities were looking into whether the
infrastructure of the border area was suitable for use during the NATO
drills, to be based on a scenario of civil emergency after an
earthquake.
Re-opening the border was a key item in a historic deal Turkey and
Armenia signed in October to establish diplomatic ties.
But the process stalled in April when Yerevan halted ratification of
the accord on the grounds that Ankara was not truely committed to its
terms.
The Today's Zaman newspaper reported Thursday that Ankara was in
favour of opening the frontier for the exercise.
"During technical discussions at NATO headquarters in Brussels a while
ago, when such a possibility was raised by NATO officials, the Turkish
side responded favorably," unnamed sources told the daily.
The drills will be held in Armenia's Kotayq region with up to 1,000
participants from NATO member and partner countries, according to
NATO's Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre, which
organises the event.
Asked about suggestions the border might remain open to allow Armenian
pilgrims to cross shortly afterwards for a mass at a historic Armenian
church in eastern Turkey, the diplomat told AFP that "this is out of
the question."
Hundreds are expected to travel to Turkey for the September 19 mass at
the Church of the Holy Cross, a 10th-century edifice on a lake island
in Van province, which is currently a museum.
Ankara gave permission for the service in a gesture of good will to Armenians.
Turkey sealed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan after Yerevan-backed ethnic Armenian separatists
seized the Nagorny Karabakh region from Baku in a war that claimed an
estimated 30,000 lives.
From: A. Papazian