OSKANYAN: ARMENIA REPEATS READINESS TO ENTER INTO DIALOGUE AND NORMAL RELATIONS WITH TURKEY

Arka News Agency, Armenia
Nov 7 2006

YEREVAN, November 7. /ARKA/. On Monday, Armenian Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanyan, commenting on his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul’s
recent interview with Liberty radio station, reiterated that Armenia is
willing to enter into dialogue and establish normal ties with Turkey.

We remain amazed that a letter sent by President Kocharian to Prime
Minister Erdogan in April 2005 remains ignored, simply because the
Turkish authorities did not like the response contained therein,
and do not wish to broaden the scope of discussion beyond history.

"President Kocharian clearly said to Prime Minister Erdogan that the
"suggestion to address the past cannot be effective if it deflects
from addressing the present and the future. In order to engage in
a useful dialog, we need to create the appropriate and conducive
political environment. It is the responsibility of governments to
develop bilateral relations and we do not have the right to delegate
that responsibility to historians. That is why we have proposed
and propose again that, without pre-conditions, we establish normal
relations between our two countries", Oskanyan said.

"In that context, President Kocharian said, "an intergovernmental
commission can meet to discuss any and all outstanding issues between
our two nations, with the aim of resolving them and coming to an
understanding", the minister said.

Oskanyan also called Foreign Minister Gul’s recent comments to
RadioLiberty, insisting that the existence of flights between Armenia
and Turkey, and of Armenian citizens in Turkey, is evidence that
‘the borders are essentially open disingenuous.

"First, the number of Armenians from Armenia living and working in
Turkey do not approach the numbers he claims. Second, open borders
assumes direct contacts between peoples, unobstructed relations
across the border and a functioning transport infrastructure", the
minister said.

"We stand by our response which we consider to be a positive one and
we wonder whether the Turkish insistence on a historical commission
is genuine. After all, we have in fact agreed to discussions on all
issues, in the context of open borders.

Further, so long as Article 301 which criminalizes mere discussion
of the genocide topic remains on the books in Turkey, an invitation
to open dialogue cannot be taken seriously. Finally, outside Turkey,
scholars – Armenians, Turks and others – have studied these issues
and have reached their own independent conclusions. The most notable
among these is the May 2006 letter to Prime Minister Erdogan by the
International Assn of Genocide Scholars wherein they collectively
and unanimously affirmed the fact of the Genocide and called on the
Turkish government to acknowledge the responsibility of a previous
government", Oskanyan said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress