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TURKEY'S GUL AGAIN CONGRATULATES ARMENIA
ArmeniaDiaspora.com
Sept 21 2011
RFE/RL -- Turkish President Abdullah Gul is among dozens of world
leaders who have congratulated Armenia on its independence anniversary,
President Serzh Sarkisian's office said on Wednesday. The office did
not publicize a congratulatory letter which it said was sent by Gul to
Sarkisian.There was no word on that letter on Gul's official website.
The Turkish president sent a similar message to his Armenian
counterpart in September last year. He reportedly expressed hope that
the Turkish-Armenian normalization protocols signed in October 2009
ago will "serve as the basis" for future relations between the two
neighboring states.
The protocols commit them to establish diplomatic relations and
open their border, which Turkey had closed in 1993 in solidarity
with Azerbaijan.
The Turkish government has since made the protocols' ratification
conditional on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
a condition rejected by Armenia. Sarkisian warned late last month
that Yerevan will formally annul the protocols unless Ankara drops
that linkage.
The Turkish-Armenian agreements were signed in Zurich just over a year
after Gul's historic visit to Yerevan. He was invited by Sarkisian to
attend a first-ever game between the two countries' national soccer
teams. The two leaders watched the return leg of the match in the
Turkish city of Bursa in 2009.
ArmeniaDiaspora.com
Sept 21 2011
RFE/RL -- Turkish President Abdullah Gul is among dozens of world
leaders who have congratulated Armenia on its independence anniversary,
President Serzh Sarkisian's office said on Wednesday. The office did
not publicize a congratulatory letter which it said was sent by Gul to
Sarkisian.There was no word on that letter on Gul's official website.
The Turkish president sent a similar message to his Armenian
counterpart in September last year. He reportedly expressed hope that
the Turkish-Armenian normalization protocols signed in October 2009
ago will "serve as the basis" for future relations between the two
neighboring states.
The protocols commit them to establish diplomatic relations and
open their border, which Turkey had closed in 1993 in solidarity
with Azerbaijan.
The Turkish government has since made the protocols' ratification
conditional on the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,
a condition rejected by Armenia. Sarkisian warned late last month
that Yerevan will formally annul the protocols unless Ankara drops
that linkage.
The Turkish-Armenian agreements were signed in Zurich just over a year
after Gul's historic visit to Yerevan. He was invited by Sarkisian to
attend a first-ever game between the two countries' national soccer
teams. The two leaders watched the return leg of the match in the
Turkish city of Bursa in 2009.