Russia & CIS General Newswire
October 25, 2007 Thursday 8:02 PM MSK

No visible progress in Armenian-Turkish relations – foreign minister

No significant positive changes have occurred in Turkey’s foreign
policy in relation to Armenia, Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan
Oskanian said in comments on the results of his meeting with
newly-appointed Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan in New York in
early October.

"Turkey remains interested only in processes, but we are interested
in results," Oskanian said at a Thursday press conference in Yerevan
in describing the current condition of bilateral relations.

There is no agreement on this aspect, but this does not mean that
Armenia will avoid meetings with Turkish officials at the level of
ministries and deputy ministers of foreign affairs, Oskanian said.

However, contacts like that which took place in New York cannot be
viewed as a component of the "virtually nonexistent" development of
bilateral relations, he said.

Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian is currently in
Ankara to take part in a ministerial meeting of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation Organization and might meet with his Turkish
counterpart, Oskanian said.

Talking about relations between Armenia and Iran, Oskanian said they
are "expanding from day to day." Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad’s recent visit to Yerevan passed positively and "was
profound and substantive in its essence."

"Our relations with Iran are expanding, and projects that are being
implemented have not only bilateral but also regional dimension –
from a gas pipeline project to the possible construction of an oil
refinery and a railroad to connect Armenia and Iran," Oskanian said.