Armenian foreign minister wants normalization of ties with Turkey

TRT 2 television, Ankara
24 Apr 04

Armenia wants a dialogue without preconditions with Turkey. Armenian
Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan talked to our correspondent Olcay
Kirac in Yerevan.

He said: We want normal relations with all our neighbours. Also with
Azerbaijan, but especially with Turkey. We are going through a period
when there are no important issues between the two countries. There
are certain historical issues between us. We cannot ignore them but we
must be able to put them aside and engage in a normal dialogue between
the two countries. In order to do that, we need good neighbourly
relations. At this stage, I see no reason why our dialogue with our
neighbour Turkey cannot be normalized. We expect the Turkish
government to lift the conditions it has been positing for the
normalization of our relations. We expect that. Let us leave aside the
preconditions and let us sit at the negotiating table. Let us discuss
our bilateral issues, solve them and normalize our relations.