Zaman Online, Turkey
May 13 2005

‘Karabag Gesture’ Clears Way for Erdogan-Kocharian Meeting

By Suleyman Kurt
Published: Friday 13, 2005
zaman.com

Ankara expects concrete steps to be taken for the solution of
Azeri-Armenian conflict prior to a possible meeting between Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Robert
Kocharian during the European Council summit in Warsaw on May 16-17.

The plan is for Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian
President Kocharian to meet in Warsaw before the Erdogan-Kocharian
meeting, though neither meeting is confirmed yet. Ankara expects
concrete steps from Yerevan during the Aliyev-Kocharian meeting over
withdrawing from Upper Karabag (Karabakh). Indications reaching
Ankara, however, reveal that this is unlikely to be the case.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Araz Azimov, who came to Turkey during
the week, said that Armenia has repeat its offer to disengage from
seven regions in Upper Karabakh and in return demands Azeri
withdrawal from Lacin, which is the corridor between Azerbajan and
Nahcevan, and Kelbece, which surrounds Karabakh, after which it will
withdraw from the other regions. Azeris are opposed to a step by step
withdrawal and want Armenia to unconditionally withdraw from all
these regions at once. The withdrawal process is expected to be
negotiated during the possible meeting in Warsaw.

Both parties spoke cautiously about the Erdogan-Kocharian meeting and
have left the issue open-ended. Neither Ankara nor Yerevan has made
official demands for a meeting. The sources note that the meeting is
also dependent on the “last minute” developments. Even if the
possibility of a conclusive agreement is low for the Aliyev-Kocharian
meeting it is stressed that the two leaders may agree on some kind of
road map. It is emphasized that positive developments in
Azeri-Armenian relations will automatically improve those between
Turkey and Armenia and the first fruit of this may be
Erdogan-Kocharian meeting. The Armenian President has previously met
with former President Suleyman Demirel in Yalta in 1998 and with
former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit in Istanbul in 1999.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress