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ARMENIA PM TIGRAN SARKISIAN 'READY FOR TURKISH TIES'BY MARK GRIGORYAN
BBC Russian Service
16 June 2011
Mr Sarkisian said relations with Azerbaijan should not be an obstacle
Continue reading the main story Armenia's prime minister says it
is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without any
pre-conditions.
"Having closed borders in the 21st Century is nonsense," Tigran
Sarkisian told the BBC Russian Service.
The two countries have been deeply suspicious of each other for
decades, and their border has remained closed since 1993.
Mr Sarkisian said he wanted Turkey's new government to show consistency
in moving towards a rapprochement.
Opening the border, he said, would be a vital step in this direction.
'Ready for war'
Turkey and Armenia signed a historic deal in 2009 to re-establish
diplomatic ties, and said they hoped the opening of the border
would follow.
But that pact broke down as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan insisted it depended on Armenia resolving its conflict with
Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
There is no indication that Mr Erdogan, who has just been re-elected,
has changed his position.
Mr Sarkisian issued a stark warning to Azerbaijan, saying his country
was fully prepared to go to war again, if Azerbaijan tried to take
Nagorno-Karabakh by force.
"We have a bellicose partner," he said, "so the only way to ensure
there is peace in the region is to be prepared for war. The balance
of power in the region needs to remain intact."
But a spokesman for the foreign ministry of Azerbaijan told the BBC
Russian Service this approach "completely defied any logic".
"We are committed to peace negotiations, and this process is underway,"
he said, "but we can't be holding talks for the sake of talks. Armenia
has to withdraw its army from the region first - that will help put
an end to war-mongering rhetoric."
Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war in 1993 over Nagorno-Karabakh,
an enclave within Azerbaijan mostly populated by ethnic-Armenians.
Up to 25,000 people were killed, about one million people lost their
homes, and Azerbaijan lost approximately 20% of its territory.
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a ceasefire in 1994, but there is
still no peace agreement between them.
Genocide claim
But Nagorno-Karabakh is just one of the many issues Armenia and Turkey
have been struggling to deal with.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since 1915,
when - according to the Armenians - as many as 1.5 million people
were killed by the Ottoman Turks. Turkey has always claimed the deaths
were a result of World War I, famine and disease.
Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as genocide - though
it insists this is not a pre-condition for dialogue.
According to the Armenian government, neither should be the divisive
issue of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be meeting later this
month in the Russian city of Kazan. The meeting will be chaired by
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev - but very few are confident that
the three leaders will find a quick solution to the issue which has
remained unresolved for almost 20 years.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
BBC Russian Service
16 June 2011
Mr Sarkisian said relations with Azerbaijan should not be an obstacle
Continue reading the main story Armenia's prime minister says it
is ready to establish diplomatic relations with Turkey without any
pre-conditions.
"Having closed borders in the 21st Century is nonsense," Tigran
Sarkisian told the BBC Russian Service.
The two countries have been deeply suspicious of each other for
decades, and their border has remained closed since 1993.
Mr Sarkisian said he wanted Turkey's new government to show consistency
in moving towards a rapprochement.
Opening the border, he said, would be a vital step in this direction.
'Ready for war'
Turkey and Armenia signed a historic deal in 2009 to re-establish
diplomatic ties, and said they hoped the opening of the border
would follow.
But that pact broke down as Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan insisted it depended on Armenia resolving its conflict with
Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
There is no indication that Mr Erdogan, who has just been re-elected,
has changed his position.
Mr Sarkisian issued a stark warning to Azerbaijan, saying his country
was fully prepared to go to war again, if Azerbaijan tried to take
Nagorno-Karabakh by force.
"We have a bellicose partner," he said, "so the only way to ensure
there is peace in the region is to be prepared for war. The balance
of power in the region needs to remain intact."
But a spokesman for the foreign ministry of Azerbaijan told the BBC
Russian Service this approach "completely defied any logic".
"We are committed to peace negotiations, and this process is underway,"
he said, "but we can't be holding talks for the sake of talks. Armenia
has to withdraw its army from the region first - that will help put
an end to war-mongering rhetoric."
Armenia and Azerbaijan went to war in 1993 over Nagorno-Karabakh,
an enclave within Azerbaijan mostly populated by ethnic-Armenians.
Up to 25,000 people were killed, about one million people lost their
homes, and Azerbaijan lost approximately 20% of its territory.
Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a ceasefire in 1994, but there is
still no peace agreement between them.
Genocide claim
But Nagorno-Karabakh is just one of the many issues Armenia and Turkey
have been struggling to deal with.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since 1915,
when - according to the Armenians - as many as 1.5 million people
were killed by the Ottoman Turks. Turkey has always claimed the deaths
were a result of World War I, famine and disease.
Armenia wants Turkey to recognise the killings as genocide - though
it insists this is not a pre-condition for dialogue.
According to the Armenian government, neither should be the divisive
issue of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan will be meeting later this
month in the Russian city of Kazan. The meeting will be chaired by
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev - but very few are confident that
the three leaders will find a quick solution to the issue which has
remained unresolved for almost 20 years.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress