Turkish Daily News
June 29 2004

Turkey seeks catalyst role in Azeri-Armenian conflict

Foreign Minister Gul holds talks with Armenian and Azeri counterparts
on the sidelines of the NATO summit and discusses Cyprus steps with
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News
Turkey seeks to become a catalyst between Azerbaijan and Armenia in
an effort to resolve the dispute over the Nagorno-Karabakh region,
Turkish officials said.

Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday morning met his
Armenian counterpart, Vartan Oskanian, on the sidelines of the NATO
summit in Istanbul. Oskanian said that Yerevan was serious in its
determination to improve relations with Turkey, while Gul noted that
Turkey had the will to reciprocate.

Both ministers agreed that due to the public’s sensitivity in both
countries, it would take time to achieve this objective. Gul cited
the example of Cyprus, noting that they had first laid a foundation
that had paved the way for negotiations and relations.

NATO has been discussing a project for launching a Caucasus Stability
Pact, but the continued tension between Azerbaijan and Armenia is a
significant obstacle to the plan.

Gul was scheduled to hold a trilateral meeting with his Armenian and
Azerbaijani counterparts, Oskanian and Elmar Memmedyarov, later in
the day.

Turkey had severed its ties with Armenia and says normalization in
relations depends upon Armenia’s withdrawing its forces in
Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave in Azeri territory under Armenian
occupation for the last decade. Other conditions for normalized ties
include Yerevan putting an end to its support for Armenian diaspora
efforts to secure international recognition of an alleged genocide of
Armenians at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire.

A Turkish official said that Armenia had no objection to developing
relations but noted that it had posed no objections during other
international meetings, later reneging on its pledges.

In this afternoon’s meeting, Oskanian was expected to broach the
issue of stability in the general Caucasus although the raising of
the topic would not be welcomed by the Armenian people.

Turkish officials said that all three ministers would express their
willingness to meet regularly on a trilateral basis in addition to
meetings at international summits.

Turkey and Armenia do not enjoy diplomatic relations. A Turkish
official close to the talks said, “Only the results and indirect
consequences of the problems between the two countries are of any
interest to us.” The Turkish official also declined to specify how
Turkey would act as a catalyst in relations between Azerbaijan and
Armenia.

Another topic during the meetings is expected to be the replacement
of private charter flights between Turkey and Armenia with scheduled
flights.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress