Armenian premier calls on Turkey to admit “historical fault”

Mediamax news agency
21 Apr 05

Yerevan, 21 April: “The Armenian government confirms its readiness
to establish normal relations with Turkey without any preconditions,”
Armenian Prime Minister Andranik Markaryan said in Yerevan today.

Speaking at the international conference “Ultimate crime, ultimate
challenge: genocide and human rights”, dedicated to the 90th
anniversary of the Armenian genocide, the Armenian prime minister
noted that “any attempt to establish diplomatic relations come across
an unacceptable condition set by Turkey”.

“Efforts to gradually restore the shattered confidence between Armenia
and Turkey will facilitate the development of regional security and
cooperation, a peaceful settlement to conflicts and the establishment
of good-neighbourly relations in the South Caucasus,” Markaryan said.

“Armenia fully subscribes to the opinion of the European political
circles which say that a country that has applied for European Union
membership should at least be able to be critical of its past and
admit its historical fault,” Markaryan said.

“It is important for us to see Turkey as a country that has been
relieved of the heavy burden of its past and has dismissed its position
and policy of denial,” Markaryan said.

He noted that Turkey remains “the only country aspiring to EU
membership which still suffers from national irreconcilability and
ethnic incompatibility and has employed the psychology of denial at
the state level”.