Erdogan might meet with Kocharyan: FM

NTV MSNBC, Turkey
May 5 2005

There is a possibility that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan might hold a meeting with Armenian head of state Robert
Kocharyan in Warsaw, Turkey’s Foreign Minister said.

May 5- Referring to German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
describing the Greek Orthodox Patriarch as ecumenical, Gul said that
Ankara’s clearly does not recognise this status.

While saying that no direct plans had been made to hold informal
discussions between the two, there was a chance such talks could take
place, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said
“There is nothing planned but it could happen,” Gul said.
Although Turkey does not have diplomatic relations with
Armenia, Ankara recognises the country and holds meeting at various
levels, he said.
Ankara was taking measures to prevent the making of statements
saying there was no Armenian genocide a criminal offence in some
countries, Gul said, adding that he had held talks with his Belgian
counterpart stressing the mistakes made by his country over the issue
of the alleged Armenian genocide.
Gul also told Belgium that preventing the expression of
thought of an individual was in contradiction to the fundamental
principles of Europe.