V. OSKANIAN EXPRESSES HOPE THAT FUTURE TURKISH GOVERNMENTWILL CHANGE ITS POSITION ON ISSUE OF OPENING BORDERS

Noyan Tapan
Jun 26, 2007

ISTANBUL, JUNE 26, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. RA Foreign Minister
Vardan Oskanian had a number of bilateral meetings within the framework
of the Summit of Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization on June
25 in Istanbul. During the meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister
and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, Minister Oskanian reaffirmed
Armenia’s position in the direction of normalizing the relations
without any preconditions.

The interlocutors also discussed the latest developments in the
negotiations over Nagorno Karabakh settlement. The Turkish Foreign
Minister mentioned that his country is interested in quick and fair
settlement of the conflict.

According to the Milliyet daily, the RA Foreign Minister touching
upon Armenian-Turkish relations at the BSEC Summit, blamed Turkey for
not undertaking any measures to normalize relations. "If you treat
seriously the subject of starting a dialogue, then first of all open
the borders," V.

Oskanian stated.

During the press conference held after the meeting with Turkish Foreign
Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, V. Oskanian said that
Armenia has never put forward any precondition for the normalization of
Armenian-Turkish relations. The Minister declared that the conditions
put forward by the Turkish government within the framework of that
issue are unfair and unacceptable, at the same time, he expressed
the hope that after the elections the future Turkish government will
change its position in the issue of opening the borders.

Speaking about the Armenian Genocide, the RA Foreign Minister said
that this is a "historic fact" and added that Armenia has never put
forward the recognition of the Genocide as a precondition in the issue
of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations. "Turkey is the only
country, which does not admit the fact of the Armenian Genocide. But
we have and will never put forward the issue of recognition of the
Genocide as a precondition in the issue of normalizing our relations,"
V. Oskanian declared.