AFP

Turkey ‘no enemy’ to Armenia: Gul 3 hours ago

ANKARA (AFP) ‘ President Abdullah Gul sent a reconciliatory message to
neighbouring Armenia on Saturday, saying Turkey is "no enemy" to any
country in its region, as he mulled a possible landmark trip to
Yerevan.

The conflict between Georgia and Russia shows the need for "early
measures to resolve frozen problems in the region and… prevent
instability in the future," said Gul in televised remarks in the
central city of Nevsehir.

"This is our understanding on all problems. We are no enemy to anyone
in the region," he said, reiterating a Turkish proposal to set up a
regional forum for stability in the Caucasus.

Gul’s conciliatory remark came in response to a question on whether he
would accept an invitation by Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian to go
to Yerevan in September to watch a World Cup qualifying match between
Turkey and Armenia.

He replied he was still evaluating the invitation.

Ankara has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Yerevan since the
former Soviet republic gained independence in 1991 because of Armenian
efforts to secure international recognition of Armenian massacres
under the Ottoman Empire as genocide.

In 1993 Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity
with its close ally Azerbaijan, then at war with Armenia, dealing a
heavy economic blow to the impoverished nation in the strategic
Caucasus region.

Diplomats from Turkey and Armenia met secretly in Switzerland in July
in a fresh effort to normalise ties following three rounds of talks in
2005 and 2006. No progress is so far publicly known.

Turkish and Armenian leaders have meanwhile met on the sidelines of
international gatherings, including a Black Sea regional summit in
Istanbul last year.

Armenians claim up to 1.5 million of their kin were killed in
orchestrated massacres during World War I as the Ottoman Empire,
Turkey’s predecessor, was falling apart.

Turkey rejects the genocide label and argues that 300,000 Armenians
and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up
arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading
Russian troops.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress