TURKISH DAILY NEWS: ARMENIA COLD TO TURKEY’S CALL FOR DIALOGUE

PanARMENIAN.Net
22.04.2008 15:36 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ali Babacan sent a letter
to his newly appointed Armenian counterpart, saying that Turkey is
open to dialogue for normalization of troubled ties.

"There is no doubt that there are problems in the two countries’
relations but a solution passes through dialogue. Our doors are open
to dialogue," Babacan said during a news conference with visiting
Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, Turkish Daily News reports.

Commenting on the Armenian-Turkish relations, Armenia’s Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian said, "We have numerously stated that we
are willing to normalize relations without preconditions. Genocide
is a black page in our common history. We should turn over this page
and build our future."

"We received the letter from Babacan and we think it very positive,"
the TDN quoted an Armenian diplomat, who wished to remain unnamed.

"But this [call for dialogue] should not only be in words, but also in
deeds. We expect action," he said, reiterating Armenia’s willingness
to re-establish diplomatic relations and re-open the borders without
any preconditions. "This is one of the key elements.

It is nonsense for a European Union aspirant country to keep its
borders closed," the diplomat said.

The TDN article also mentions of the Armenian Diaspora’s pressure
for international recognition of the Armenian Genocide as well as
"invasion of Nagorno Karabakh, an Azeri territory, by Armenian troops."

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 over the Nagorno
Karabakh issue.