ARMENIA AND TURKEY HOLD SECRET TALKS, TURKISH SOURCES SAY

PanARMENIAN.Net
31.05.2006 14:35 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Secret talks between Turkey and Armenia, launched
after Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wrote a letter to Armenian
President Robert Kocharian, have failed to make any headway coming
out of their third round. A part of the third session of secret talks
was held on the sidelines of the Turkey-European Union Troika meeting
in Vienna, Austria last March. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul closely
followed the meetings with Armenian officials that were kept secret
from the media, CNN-Turk reported. Sources say that the Armenian
response reached Ankara early this month to Turkey’s suggestion
for the establishment of two committees to discuss mutual relations
wasn’t welcomed, and the answer “to the Turkish suggestions that they
received was watered down.”

The Turkish side had proposed the establishment of two committees
to simultaneously hold talks on political issues and the Armenian
Genocide. In response, Yerevan rejected the Turkish suggestions. It
underlined that scholars can debate the issue in conferences.

Nevertheless Armenia did request the revival of political talks between
the two countries. Following Yerevan’s objection to the establishment
of the two committees, including one comprised of historians from
both countries to study the Armenian genocide claims, Ankara is now
preparing for the fourth round of secret talks. Foreign Ministry
officials underlined that continued debates over the genocide claims
have “poisoned” Turkey’s relations with other countries.

Ankara will continue to exert effort to find a middle ground and
to solve its problems with Yerevan, they added, reported The New
Anatolian.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress