Turkey: No opening border with Armenia before normalization of relations

New Anatolian, Turkey
March 18 2006

Turkish officials decisively informed U.S. Assistant Secretary of State
for European and Eurasian Affairs Daniel Fried that Ankara would not
open a border gate with Yerevan unless there was a normalization of
ties between Turkey and Armenia.

Fried, who paid an official visit to Ankara, met with Turkish Foreign
Ministry Undersecretary Ali Tuygan and Deputy Undersecretary Ahmet
Uzumcu late Thursday. During the meeting, he urged Ankara to open its
border gate with Armenia in order to facilitate the peace process in
the divided-enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh, still a point of contention
between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

However, Ankara reiterated its previous position and made known that
the issue was part of the normalization process of relations between
Turkey and Armenia, sources said.

According to sources, Fried expressed Yerevan’s willingness to
normalize relations with Ankara. He also underlined both Armenia and
Azerbaijan’s decisiveness to find a solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh
dispute, making reference to his separate meetings with Armenian
President Robert Kocharian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

As a part of the U.S. efforts to contribute to a solution to the
Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, Fried visited Ankara following his round
of meetings in Caucuses.

Declining to predict a possible timetable regarding a solution on the
enclave, Fried told the Turkish officials of the U.S.’ readiness to
extend any kind of support for the solution.

Fried took up with his Turkish counterparts Iran’s nuclear program.

Ankara and Washington agreed to seek a diplomatic solution to the
crisis which emerged between the West and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear
ambitions, diplomatic sources told The New Anatolian. However,
according to the sources, Fried conveyed to Ankara that Washington
will not rule out military operations against Iran if the issue were
to be deadlocked.

The Cyprus problem also dominated the talks between Tuygan and Fried.

Tuygan stressed the necessity to end the isolation of Turkish
Cypriots. Although the Turkish side has always taken positive steps
towards a solution on the divided island, it has not got a positive
response from the international community, he said.

In criticism of the international community towards the Turkish
Cypriots, Tuygan told Fried that although the Greek Cypriots have
always been the uncompromising side, the international community has
always rewarded them, said the sources.

During a press conference on late Thursday following his talks Fried
also touched on the Armenian genocide claims, saying, “The attitude
of the U.S. on this issue is well known. U.S. President George W.

Bush is likely to make a statement on this issue in April, like
every year.”