Armenian MPs urge Turkey to open borders, set up diplomatic ties

Arminfo
1 Dec 04

YEREVAN

Representatives of the Armenian delegation in the Black Sea Economic
Cooperation Parliamentary Assembly [BSECPA] have had a 30-minute
private meeting with Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc on the
sidelines of the 24th session of the BSECPA.

MP Gagik Mkheyan, chairman of the Armenian National Assembly
commission for public health, environment and social issues, told
today’s press conference that Bulent Arinc had initiated the
meeting. The Armenian deputy said that the meeting, which was also
attended by a representative of the Turkish Foreign Ministry,
discussed opening the Armenian-Turkish borders and establishing mutual
diplomatic relations.

At the meeting, Bulent Arinc said that Turkey was ready to establish
relations with Armenia, however, there existed a number of problems
that were impeding this. In particular, the Turkish speaker aired
dissatisfaction with lobbyist activities of the Armenian diaspora over
international recognition of the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman
Turkey in the early 1900s.

At the same time, Bulent Arinc regretted the tragic events in Turkey
in the beginning of the 20th century. But he noted that those events
could not be qualified as genocide. He also expressed concern that
Armenia was limp-wristed in the issue of returning the seized
Azerbaijani lands. The speaker of the Turkish parliament said that the
OSCE Minsk Group was inefficient in the issue of peaceful resolution
of the Karabakh conflict. Bulent Arinc reiterated Turkey’s readiness
to mediate the peaceful negotiations on the Karabakh conflict.

In turn, the Armenian MPs said that the issue of international
recognition of the Armenian genocide remained as a priority issue on
Yerevan’s foreign policy agenda, but it was not an obstacle to
establishing diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey. The
Armenian delegation members noted that all disputable issues between
Armenia and Turkey could be resolved provided there are bilateral
diplomatic relations. They did not back Bulent Arinc’s opinion that
the OSCE Minsk Group’s work was inefficient. The Armenian MPs, in
particular, noted that the OSCE Minsk Group was today the only
acceptable format where a peaceful resolution to the Karabakh conflict
could be debated.

Speaking about Turkey’s possible admittance to the European Union, the
Armenian delegation said that Armenia was not against Turkey’s
membership of the EU provided Ankara should review its policy on
ethnic minorities in Turkey, as well as the issue of opening the
Armenian-Turkish borders.

On the whole, they noted that Armenia would be happy to have a
neighbour which was a member of the EU. The Armenian delegation also
noted the importance of expanding bilateral interparliamentary
cooperation, which could be conducive to setting up Armenian-Turkish
diplomatic relations. Gagik Mkheyan noted that very warm ties had
shaped between the Armenian and Turkish parliamentary delegations in
the BSECPA.