Hearings On Armenia-Turkey Relations Started At National Assembly

HEARINGS ON ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS STARTED AT NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

AZG Armenian Daily
20/12/2007

Two-day hearings on basic problems in Armenia-Turkey relations and
the ways of their resolution were started today at the National
Assembly of Armenia by the initiative of the Parliamentary Committee
for Foreign Affairs.

Representative of the "Armenian Revolutionary Federation" party
(Dashnaktsutiun) Armen Rustamian, currently chairman of the Committee,
says that the hearings should have been started long ago. To his
opinion, no other question has had such a great impact on the Republic
of Armenia and its citizens. Rustamian adds that the scale and the
significance of the Armenian-Turkish relations stretch far beyond
the frameworks of bilateral relations of the two states.

Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosian says that the hearings are just
the beginning of a serious and long-term process of seeking ways to
improve relations between the neighboring countries. According to the
Speaker, the hearings provide a wide avenue for looking for the best
way to achieve it.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian and EU Special Repressive
to South Caucasus Peter Semneby, addressed the Parliament with a
speech on that occasion gathering.

It is reported that the invitations of the Armenian side to Turkish
politicians and experts to arrive in Yerevan and take part in the
hearings were categorically rejected.