Deutsche Welle, Germany
Sept 22 2004

Prodi Urges Turkey to Reopen Armenian Border

During an official visit this week to Azerbaijan, Georgia and
Armenia, Romano Prodi, head of the European Commission, said Ankara
must reopen its border with Armenia as a condition for eventual
membership. “Personally, I do not like that the Armenian-Turkish
border gate is closed,” he said, according to Armenia’s Medimax news
agency. “I do not exclude that the issue of closed borders could be
one of the preconditions for Turkey’s membership.” It was the first
time an EU official linked the border situation to accession talks.
Turkey closed its gate with Armenia and severed its diplomatic ties a
decade ago, in protest of Armenia’s occupation of the Azeri territory
of Nagorno-Karabakh.