ERDOGAN’S ADVISOR SAYS TURKS ENTRUST WHAT IS MOST DEAR TO THEM TO ARMENIANS

Armenpress
Apr 04 2006

YEREVAN, APRIL 4, ARMENPRESS: Egemen Bagis, Turkish Prime Minister
Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s foreign policy adviser and Justice & Development
Party (AKP) deputy, said international observers expected Turkey to
open its border with Armenia.

Speaking at the New York Foreign Relations Council, he said Turkey
recognized Armenia as a sovereign state. “We do not have diplomatic
relations with Armenia, but we respect Armenians’ sovereignty as we
respect the sovereignty of all other former Soviet republics,’ he
was quoted by RFE/RL as saying. Bagis said Turkey did not open its
borders with Armenia and did not seek establishment of diplomatic
relations because ‘Armenia does recognize these borders.”

“Armenian Constitutional does not say that Armenia recognizes its
border with Turkey,’ he was quoted as saying.

He then said around 50,000 Armenian citizens were living now in Turkey,
the majority without relevant permissions. He claimed the majority
of Armenian citizens worked as babysitters in Turkish families.

“Turks have entrusted their children, the dearest they have, to
Armenians, which is evidence there is no enmity between them. This
means we have much in common,” he was quoted as saying.

Meantime a survey conducted by Sociometer polling center among 1000
young Armenians revealed that the overwhelming majority was against
normalization of relations with Turkey if this is to be done by
ignoring Armenians’ territorial claims to Turkey and without its
acknowledgement of the 1915 genocide. The Sociometer said 90 percent
of respondents said they were against that way of improvement of
relations with Turkey. The share of those who would seek economic and
other ties with Turkey before it recognized the genocide and met other
Armenian demands was only 4 percent., while 6 percent were undecided.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress