EU official calls on Armenia, Turkey to improve ties

Arminfo
17 Mar 04

YEREVAN

If Turkey wants to become a European Union member, it should fulfil
all the requirements of this organization and normalize relations with
Armenia, the chairman of the European Parliament’s committee for
constitutional issues, Ursula Schleicher, told a news conference
today, devoted to the results of the sixth session of the commission
for Armenia-European Union interparliamentary cooperation.

She said that both sides should show the political will to normalize
Armenian-Turkish relations. Schleicher noted that both Armenia and
Turkey were attempting to normalize bilateral relations. She believes
these countries should start communicating at a higher level in order
to normalize ties. The agreement that was signed on the results of the
sixth session of the Armenian-European Union cooperation commission
called on Turkey “to gradually start unblocking the border” and remove
obstacles on the path to trade cooperation with Armenia.

The European Union called on the Armenian and Turkish governments to
create the conditions for establishing friendly relations. The
document also pointed out the need for dialogue between Armenian and
Turkish academics to “overcome the tragic experience of the past”.