COE: TURKEY, ARMENIA CAN NORMALIZE RELATIONS ONLY AFTER NAGORNO SETTLEMENT

ABHaber, Belgium
April 27 2006

The secretary-general of the Council of Europe (CoE), Terry
Davis, stated yesterday that Turkey and Armenia cannnot normalize
relations without first finding a solution to the dispute over the
Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

Davis called on all parties of the dispute, especially Armenia and
Azerbaijan, to make the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue
a top priority. He said that other disputes are important, but not
as important as the divided enclave, reported the Armenian Mediamax
news agency.

“We are all aware of the real problem, which is the future of
Nagorno-Karabakh,” he said. “Therefore, we should all exert effort to
solve the real issue. There is no need to spend time on other issues.”

Asked whether the CoE will play a more active role in the resolution
process, the secretary-general replied that the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Minsk group is responsible
for facilitating a resolution to the problem, and he expressed hope
that the organization’s co-chairpersons would succeed despite various
difficulties.