REPRESENTATIVES OF TURKEY AND ARMENIA HELD SECRET TALKS

DeFacto Agency
July 18 2008
Armenia

The representatives of Turkey and Armenia held secret talks devoted
to the normalization of relations between the two countries.

There are no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia; the
border between the two countries has been closed for the last 15 years,
RIA Novosti reports quoting Turkish Hurriyet newspaper.

"The talks started in Bern on July 8 and were held during a few days
in strict secrecy", the newspaper says calling the dialogue historic.

There has been no information concerning the talks’ details. According
to Hurriyet, at the talks the Turkish delegation was headed by a
high-ranking official representing MFA.

Turkish FM Ali Babacan, commenting Hurriyet’s publication, neither
confirmed nor refuted the information.

"From time to time we meet with our Armenian colleagues. The
negotiation schedule is quite important", Turkish FM told journalists
in Ankara.

"There are some questions between us, differences in estimation of
events that took place in 1915. However, we believe that all the
problems existing between the two countries should be settled via
talks", Babacan added.
From: Baghdasarian