TURKISH PRESIDENT GUL CONGRATULATES SARGSYAN FOR VICTORY
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 20 2013
President Abdullah Gul has congratulated Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan after the latter scored a crushing victory in elections for
a second five-year mandate.
"According to the information received from the presidency, Gul sent a
message of congratulation to Sargsyan," Anatolia news agency reported
yesterday, without giving any further detail.
The two leaders were key figures in the now-stalled rapprochement
process between the estranged neighbors. The process began with
Sargsyan's invitation to Gul to an Armenia-Turkey World Cup qualifying
football match in Yerevan in 2008. The two countries have never had
diplomatic relations, and Ankara closed its border with Yerevan in
1993 because of its war with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of
Nagorno-Karabakh. In October 2009, Armenian and Turkish officials
initiated the protocols to normalize the relations between the two
countries. However, the protocols have not been ratified since then
and have faced immense criticism in both countries.
The protocols, which call for the establishment of diplomatic ties and
the reopening of the shared border, also called for a joint commission
to examine the two countries' shared history.
February/20/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-president-gul-congratulates-sargsyan-for-victory.aspx?pageID=238&nID=41563&NewsCatID=338
Hurriyet Daily News, Turkey
Feb 20 2013
President Abdullah Gul has congratulated Armenian President Serzh
Sargsyan after the latter scored a crushing victory in elections for
a second five-year mandate.
"According to the information received from the presidency, Gul sent a
message of congratulation to Sargsyan," Anatolia news agency reported
yesterday, without giving any further detail.
The two leaders were key figures in the now-stalled rapprochement
process between the estranged neighbors. The process began with
Sargsyan's invitation to Gul to an Armenia-Turkey World Cup qualifying
football match in Yerevan in 2008. The two countries have never had
diplomatic relations, and Ankara closed its border with Yerevan in
1993 because of its war with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of
Nagorno-Karabakh. In October 2009, Armenian and Turkish officials
initiated the protocols to normalize the relations between the two
countries. However, the protocols have not been ratified since then
and have faced immense criticism in both countries.
The protocols, which call for the establishment of diplomatic ties and
the reopening of the shared border, also called for a joint commission
to examine the two countries' shared history.
February/20/2013
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-president-gul-congratulates-sargsyan-for-victory.aspx?pageID=238&nID=41563&NewsCatID=338