Armenian foreign minister calls on Turkey to face history

Noyan Tapan news agency
22 Apr 05

Yerevan, 22 April: The Armenians and Turks must together face history
in order to surmount its legacy and accept the past. This was the main
message of the international forum “Ultimate crime, ultimate challenge:
genocide and human rights”, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan
has said.

In his concluding remarks, the minister said that a bilateral process
is necessary to that end. The Turks must be able to call a spade
a spade and acknowledge the fact that the 1915 events are called
“genocide”. “This is inevitable and obvious.”

Oskanyan also expressed his surprise at the lack of awareness about
Armenian-Turkish relations even among Turkish journalists. A Turkish
journalist who interviewed him did not know that the Armenian-Turkish
border was open on the Armenian side and that Armenia had no
preconditions for establishing diplomatic relations with Turkey,
Oskanyan said. Acknowledging the genocide is also not a precondition,
the minister said. “We are ready for dialogue with Turkey. We are
neighbours and undoubtedly will continue to live side by side,”
Oskanyan said.

“We want to have open borders, trade, be represented in the capitals
and so on,” he said.

Vardan Oskanyan also recalled another misconception which is widespread
in Turkey – the view that Armenia is against Turkey’s membership of the
European Union. “It is not correct. The best option for Armenia would
be a European Turkey which complies with European standards,” he said.