NATO HOPES ARMENIAN-TURKISH BORDER WILL BE OPENED

PanARMENIAN.Net
12.07.2007 15:38 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ "Turkey is a NATO member-state, while Armenia just
participates in programs of the Alliance, and in this respect the
organization cannot influence on relations between both countries,"
head of NATO’s Defense Planning and Operations Division George
Katsirdakis stated to the PanARMENIAN.Net journalist. He said,
however, this does not mean that small Armenia cannot stand against
large Turkey.

"Armenia participates in NATO programs, including "Partnership for
Peace" program, as well as Armenia-NATO Individual Partnership Action
Plan (IPAP). All member-states of the Alliance support Armenia and I
hope very much that the problem of normalizing the relations between
both countries will be resolved. It’s difficult for me to say what
exactly hampers the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations
-the Nagorno Karabakh problem or the Armenian Genocide. But in any
case it is necessary to build bridges, organize meetings. There
exists one more aspect here -the economic and strategic cooperation
between Turkey and Azerbaijan and I think this too may serve as a
barrier. Nevertheless, NATO hopes Armenian-Turkish border will be
opened," Katsirdakis underscored.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress