ZAMAN ONLINE

INTERNATIONAL 03.11.2005 Friday – ISTANBUL 08:13

Armenia Refuses Offer for Joint Study by Historians

By Foreign News Service
Published: Thursday 10, 2005
zaman.com

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan has refused an offer for a joint
study by Turkish and Armenian historians on the so-called Armenian genocide
allegations. Oskanyan turned down Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan’s offer, on the grounds that the joint study had no base.

Oskanyan said they have made clear their stance on the issue. Saying that
they had already stated the findings of their historians, Oskanyan added:
“Turkey should put forward their case. There is nothing left for historians
to do.” Meanwhile, Turkey has decided to continue its relations with Armenia
via its embassy in Tbilisi rather than Moscow. Turkish Foreign Ministry
Spokesman Namik Tan said: “We have reached the conclusion that the Tbilisi
embassy is more effective than the Moscow Embassy in many respects. In the
light of this evaluation, our transactions with Armenia will be executed by
the Turkish embassy in Tbilisi from now on.” Armenia, meanwhile, carries out
its transactions related with Turkey via its Moscow embassy. Tan also
determined that the foreign ministry was always alert to the genocide
claims.

Istanbul