PanARMENIAN.Net

Ali Babacan: Turkey’s aim to have zero problems with its neighbors
25.07.2008 16:00 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey is willing to normalize its relations with
the neighboring Armenia, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said late on
Thursday.

`Turkey wants to create an atmosphere of dialogue with Armenia,’
Babacan told a news conference in New York.

"Turkish President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister sent letters
to their Armenian counterparts after recent elections in Armenia, and
these letters aimed to open a new door of dialogue with the new
(Armenian) administration," he was quoted as saying by the Anatolian
Agency.

As a signal of efforts to revive relations between the two countries,
Turkish and Armenian officials held a series of secret meetings in the
capital of Switzerland on July 8. This meeting followed Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan’s proposal for "a fresh start" with the goal
of normalizing relations with Turkey and opening the border.

Sargsyan also invited Turkish President Abdullah Gul to watch a
football match between Armenian and Turkish national teams on Sept 6
to mark "a new symbolic start in the two countries’ relations". Turkey
has been evaluating this invitation.

Turkey closed its border and severed its diplomatic ties with Armenia
in 1993 as a token of solidarity with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno
Karabakh issue. Ankara also urges Armenia to change its policy of
international recognition of the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the
Ottoman Empire.

Mr Babacan said that Turkey’s aim is to have zero problems with its
neighbors. "Naturally, we are also expecting some concrete steps from
the other party," he said, Hurriyet reports.

Babacan said he `believed that Turkey’s problems could be solved
through dialogue, and underlined importance of setting up a joint
committee of historians to deal with the 1915 events.’

In 2005, Turkey’s proposal to the Armenian government to establish of
a joint commission of historians and other experts from both sides to
study together the events of 1915 and to open the archives of Turkey
and Armenia was rejected.

Incumbent Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan gave green light recently
to Turkey’s proposal but only after the latter lifts the blockade of
Armenia.