TURKISH, ARMENIAN DIPLOMATS DISCUSS NORMALIZING TIES
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey
June 1 2006
Turkish and Armenian officials on Wednesday discussed the possibility
of normalizing relations, despite the fact that the two countries do
not have diplomatic ties.
This is the third round of talks since a dialogue was opened by
an exchange of letters between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian in April 2005.
A spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Namik Tan, said Turkey
is determined to pursue a normalization of relations, but also called
on Armenia to show more flexibility.
In 1993, Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ties have also been strained by Armenian efforts to win international
recognition of the 1915-17 killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey
as genocide.
The day also saw a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul. Lavrov will then
meet with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
The agenda of the talks were expected to include the standoff over
Iran’s disputed nuclear program.
Both Russia and Turkey have trade links with Iran and fear that an
escalation of the crisis could further destabilize the region.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
