LENNMARKER: TURKEY SHOULD OPEN ARMENIAN BORDER

Pan Armenian
05.10.2005 13:44

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Goran Lennmarker, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Rapporteur on Nagorno Karabakh conflict, met on Tuesday with
the members of the Armenian delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary
Assembly.Speaking during the meeting, Vahan Hovhannisian, National
Assembly vice speaker and the head of the Armenian delegation to the
OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, mentioned that Lennmarker’s report at
the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Washington session stirred great
interest in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Due to the campaign we launched,
Hovhannissian said, the report was admitted positively in Armenia,
where there are no political forces that do not realize the need
for mutual concessions in order to reach a final solution to the
conflict. However, he added, it would be hard to find a political
force in Azerbaijan willing to agree to similar concessions, so it
is the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s task to find one. He also hailed
Lennmarker for initiating direct talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan
in Brussels and Washington. Hovhannisian proposed that Lennmarker head
an ad hoc working group comprised of members from Armenia, Azerbaijan,
as well as OSCE Parliamentary Assembly members well-informed of the
conflict to work on a joint resolution. Mr. Lennmarker expressed his
agreement with Hovhannisian’s proposals and noted that this golden
opportunity should be grasped by the parliamentarians. Speaking of
the Armenian-Turkish relations, Lennmarker said Armenia would benefit
from the EU-Turkey negotiations. As for Turkey’s blockade of Armenia,
Lennmarker said Turkey must open its border since EU policies are
those of open borders.