Zaman Online, Turkey
July 19 2008

Gül to send message to Yerevan with Armenia border visit

President Abdullah Gül will send neighboring Armenia a
conciliatory message wrapped in a warning over regional isolation when
he visits the Turkish-Armenian border next week.

Gül will visit Ani, an uninhabited medieval Armenian city in
the province of Kars on the Armenia border, on July 23, during a visit
to the region to attend a ceremony to inaugurate the construction of
the Turkish part of a regional railway passing through Turkey, Georgia
and Azerbaijan; the line excludes Armenia. The presidents of
Azerbaijan and Georgia will also attend the inauguration ceremony,
scheduled for July 24.

Despite Turkish efforts to deepen cooperation with other regional
countries at the expense of landlocked Armenia, Gül’s visit to
Ani is a sign of readiness to improve ties with Yerevan. Armenia wants
Turkey to restore medieval churches in Ani and Turkish authorities
began renovation works in the city early this year.

The president’s visit to Kars comes as the two estranged neighbors
exchange warm messages, raising hopes for dialogue. Foreign Minister
Ali Babacan yesterday appeared to confirm a report in the Turkish
media that Turkish and Armenian officials had secret talks in
Switzerland earlier this month. The report in the Hürriyet
daily said the officials met for a few days starting on July 8 and
that a senior Foreign Ministry official headed the Turkish delegation.

`Such talks are held from time to time,’ Babacan told reporters. In a
statement, the Foreign Ministry also said there had been occasional
contacts between Turkey and Armenia — noting that Turkey had
recognized the neighboring state since it declared independence from
the now-defunct Soviet Union in 1991 — but warned that no specific
conclusion should be drawn from them. `Meetings between members of the
foreign ministries of the two countries are part of these contacts. We
believe no different meaning should be attributed to these meetings.’

In 2005, Turkish and Armenian officials were reported to have had
similar meetings. Turkey recognizes Armenia but severed its diplomatic
contact with the landlocked country after it occupied Nagorno-Karabakh
in Azerbaijan. Ankara says normalization of ties hinges on Armenian
withdrawal from Nagorno-Karabakh as well as Armenian recognition of
the current border and a change of Yerevan’s policy on claims of an
Armenian genocide at the hands of the late Ottoman Empire. Ankara
denies claims that Armenians were subject to genocide and says both
Armenians and Turks died in a civil conflict that erupted after
Anatolian Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire for
independence during the World War I years.

`We have problems about current issues and disagreements about the
1915 events. It is essential that these problems are handled through
dialogue,’ Babacan said.

Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan proposed `a fresh start’ in
relations with Turkey in an article published in The Wall Street
Journal earlier this month. `The time has come for a fresh effort to
break this deadlock, a situation that helps no one and hurts many. As
president of Armenia, I take this opportunity to propose a fresh start
— a new phase of dialogue with the government and people of Turkey,
with the goal of normalizing relations and opening our common border,’
he said.

Sarksyan also invited Gül to a World Cup qualifying match
between Armenian and Turkish teams in September. Officials say the
invitation is still under consideration and that the president will
decide according to developments.

In the absence of a solution to problems with Armenia, Turkey has
taken steps to deepen regional cooperation on energy, transportation
and trade with Azerbaijan and Georgia. The planned Baku-Tbilisi-Kars
railway will link the three countries and revive the historical Silk
Road by connecting Central Asia and the Far East to Europe via Turkey.

Construction of the Georgian section of the railway, expected to begin
operation in 2011, began in November. Gül joined Georgian
President Mikhail Saakashvili and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
at the inauguration ceremony then. Some 1.5 million people and 6.5
million tons of cargo are expected to be transported through the
railway in the first year following its launch. The project is
estimated to cost $450 million.

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Gül: Sarksyan’s invitation being considered
President Abdullah Gül has said he is contemplating Armenian
President Serzh Sarksyan’s formal invitation to visit Yerevan for a
soccer match in September.

When Gül received Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki
in Ankara on Thursday, journalists asked if he would go to Yerevan,
and Gül replied: `You will see when the time comes. The offer
is being considered.’ Armenia and Turkey will play against one another
in the Armenian capital on Sept. 6 in a qualifying match of the 2010
FIFA World Cup, which will be held in South Africa.

Sarksyan’s call to Turkey to launch `a fresh start’ in relations
between the estranged neighbors has been met with a positive response
in the Turkish capital.

However, sources said Ankara’s response greatly depends on Yerevan’s
attitude regarding resolutions in other countries’ parliaments to
consider the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I
as `genocide.’ If Armenia continues to support such resolutions,
relations will remain strained, the same sources
noted. Ä°stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

19 July 2008, Saturday
SÃ`LEYMAN KURT ANKARA