Armenia hopes EU will pressure Turkey to open its border

ABHaber, Belgium
March 31 2006

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian expressed Yerevan’s hope
that Turkey will be pressured by the European Union to open its border
with Armenia during the EU membership process.

Oskanian made the remarks at a press conference in Washington on
Wednesday following his contacts in the U.S.

Underlining that Armenia has no pre-conditions for the opening of the
border, Oskanian said, “Turkish-Armenian border is the only closed
border gate in Europe. We hope Turkey will be pressured to open it
during its bid to join the bloc.”

Turkey is considering reopening its border with Armenia on the
condition that Yerevan commits to a partial pullout from the occupied
Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and within the process of
normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan. Ankara seeks
a withdrawal from four regions in Nagorno-Karabakh and believes that
such a move can facilitate a comprehensive agreement between Yerevan
and the Azeri capital Baku.

Oskanian also stated that Yerevan supports the establishment of
diplomatic relations with Ankara.

Touching on the Armenian genocide claims, Oskanian said that his
country doesn’t want any discussions on his country’s thesis. In a
move to lash out at Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
proposal to establish a joint commission composed of Armenian and
Turkish historians to study the genocide claims, Oskanian said,
“Erdogan’s suggestion aims to give Europe the impression that
Turkey is “on trail” in this issue. First of all there is no need
to reinvestigate the issue which is proved by documents. Secondly,
it is apparent that Turkish historians won’t confirm the existence of
“genocide” as a result of their studies since in Turkey it is even
forbidden to voice the word “genocide”.”