Agence France Presse — English
January 14, 2007 Sunday 12:28 PM GMT
Turkey urged to talk with Armenia
Experts and officials urged Turkey here on Sunday to hold talks with
the government in Yerevan and to open the border with Armenia.
Armenia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakossian said it was vital
for the two countries, which do not have diplomatic ties, to
communicate at governmental level.
"It’s time for communications to take place on an inter-governmental
level," Kirakossian said.
"Turkey should have more equal policies with all countries of the
region and should refrain from policies that leave Armenia in
isolation and outside regional programmes," Kirakossian told AFP at a
US-supported conference on Armenian-Turkish relations.
Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union have drawn greater
attention to its attitude to this state in the strategic Caucasus
region.
Ankara recognised Armenia’s independence in 1991 but the two sides
did not establish diplomatic ties.
Turkey has kept the border with Armenia closed due to Yerevan’s
backing of separatists in the Nagorny Karabakh enclave in Azerbaijan.
The dispute also centres on Yerevan’s claims of genocide of Armenians
in 1915-1917 during the Ottoman empire, which Ankara denies.
Burcu Gultekin, an expert at the Ankara-based Middle East Technical
University, said that Turkey should lift its closure of the border in
the interests of both countries.
"A sound regional development strategy for the Turkish eastern
Anatolia region cannot be elaborated without sustained cross-border
cooperation," she said.
Delegates at the two-day conference also said that opening the border
would increase Turkey’s access to the Turkic-speaking countries of
Central Asia, where Ankara has sought a greater role since the Soviet
Union’s 1991 collapse.
They said it would also increase trade and boost tourism — Armenians
visit Turkey on holiday in large numbers, despite the lack of
governmental ties.