PanARMENIAN.Net

Turkish Daily News: Armenian and Turkish officials held two round of
talks during past three months
19.07.2008 17:05 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Two rounds of talks between Armenian and Turkish
officials during past three months mark an important stage for future
relations, Turkish Daily News reports.

Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry Ertugrul Apakan and his deputy
Unal Cevikoz headed the Turkish delegation during the first round,
which took place in May, and the second round in July. Both rounds
were carried out in Bern, Switzerland, which is considered an
impartial country that has hosted similar secretive talks on issues
like Cyprus and Iran.

Babacan, down played the significance of the talks, kept secret until
now while admitting yesterday that from time to time officials from
his ministry have contacts with their Armenian counterparts. "These
contacts are important for normalization of relations. There are
problems and also disagreement over events of 1915, but we favor a
constructive approach and dialogue to overcome these," he said.

A spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, Burak Ozugergin, issued a
similar written response, noting that Turkey recognized Armenia in
1991 and since then there have been contacts between Ankara and
Yerevan. "There is no need to attribute different meanings to these
contacts," Ozugergin added.