HEARINGS ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS KICK OFF AT RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

armradio.am
19.12.2007 17:20

The two-day parliamentary hearings on "Armenian-Turkish relations:
Issues and Perspectives" kicked off at the National Assembly today. The
hearings were initiated by NA Standing Committee on Foreign Relations.

Chairman of the Committee Armen Rustamyan noted that the necessity
to organize the hearings had matured long ago. He associated it with
the importance of the question, noting that there is no question
that would have a similar influence on the history of the Armenian
people – its past, present and future. Besides, according to him,
Armenian-Turkish relations exceed the boundaries of relations between
two states. "These relations really have a great importance and role
in the contemporary geopolitical developments, and the Parliament
had to get involved in the process. Thus, the aim of the hearings is
to clarify the reasons of the current crisis in the Armenian-Turkish
relations through these large-scale discussions, assess the nature of
the existing problems and make clear the opportunities and mechanisms
of parliamentary diplomacy in the normalization of these relations,"
Mr. Rustamyan noted.

Speaker of the National Assembly Tigran Torosyan noted in his
speech that today’s hearings will not put an end to the issue of
Armenian-Turkish relations. On the contrary, the hearings are of
special importance: they open a broad opportunity for discussions. The
Speaker noted that the Parliament is ready to play an important role
in the normalization of the relations between the two countries on
the international level.

During the hearings speeches were delivered also by RA Foreign
Minister Vartan Oskanian, EU Special Representative for the South
Caucasus Peter Semenby and NA Vice-Speaker Vahan Hovhannisyan. The
event featured parliamentarians, diplomats accredited in Armenia,
experts, representatives of scientific and public circles.

Armen Rustamyan informad that a number of invitations were sent to
Turkey, but these were all denies because of different reasons. He
expressed hope that at last it would be possible to launch dialogue
and called on his Turkish colleagues not to reject the contacts in
the future.