ANKARA AND YEREVAN LIFT THE BANS
Maria Rybakova, Victor Yadukha

WPS Agency
July 28, 2008 Monday
Russia

Details of Armenian-Turkish negotiations became known

HIGHLIGHT: THE US AND EUROPEAN UNION CAN RECONCILE TURKEY AND ARMENIA?;
Details of secret negotiations between representatives of Armenia and
Turkey leaked to the Turkish press. Besides conditions for opening
of the Armenian-Turkish border, the details dealt with the problem of
genocide of Armenians, ways to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in general.

Yesterday, details of secret negotiations between representatives of
Armenia and Turkey leaked to the Turkish press. Besides conditions
for opening of the Armenian-Turkish border the details dealt with the
problem of genocide of Armenians, ways to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict and Armenian-Azerbaijani relations in general.

According to the Turkish mass media, Ankara has been having unofficial
meetings with Yerevan for a few years keeping them in secrect to avoid
the negative reaction of Azerbaijan. Earlier, Azerbaijani Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan confirmed the fact of periodic meetings with
Yerevan but did not speak about the details.

The problems discussed during the negotiations are so closely
intersected that it is impossible to achieve progress in solving
of one of them without solving another. The US and the European
Union are persistently pushing Ankara towards opening the borders,
which will enable Yerevan to get rid of its isolation. In response,
the unofficial intermediaries promise that Yerevan will move the
matter of the genocide of Armenians from the foreign policy level to
the level of discussion by historians. Former President of Armenia,
Robert Kocharyan, has refused to do this but possible signals have
been coming from Yerevan lately.

Reconciliation is openly lobbied and, as in the case of Gyumri, it
is financed by the US embassy in Yerevan. Analysts point out that
Armenia called "the last ally of Russia in Transcaucasia" is prepared
to listen to the calls of the West, especially if they are confirmed
by financing.

At the beginning of the week, it became known that the US Congress
approved the allocation of $52 million to Armenia and $8 million
to Nagorno-Karabakh.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress