Turkish, Armenian leaders could meet, but nothing planned, minister says

AP Worldstream
May 05, 2005

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Thursday left open the
possibility that leaders from Armenia and Turkey could meet, but said
nothing concrete was planned, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Asked about Turkish press reports that Turkish Prime Minister Recep
Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian could meet
during May 9 Victory Day celebrations in Moscow or at a Council of
Europe summit scheduled for May 15-16 in Warsaw, Gul said: “It could
be, but nothing is planned,” Anatolia reported.

Gul, speaking to reporters before flying to Kyrgyzstan, said that
ministers from Armenia and Turkey have met in the past although the
two neighbors do not have diplomatic relations, Anatolia said.

Turkey and Armenia disagree over the mass killings of Armenians at
the time of World War I that Armenians say was genocide.

Armenians say some 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a deliberate
genocidal campaign by Ottoman Empire authorities.

But Turkey says Armenia inflates the death toll and says the Armenians
were killed or displaced in civil unrest during the collapse of
the empire.

Erdogan has said Turkey might establish political ties if Armenia
agreed to set up a joint commission to investigate the killings.
Armenia says it is ready to re-establish relations with Ankara,
but without any preconditions.

The issue has gained new urgency as Turkey seeks membership in the
European Union.