PRESIDENT SERZH SARGSYAN RESTATES HIS INVITATION TO GUL
Panorama.am
14:57 28/08/2008
President S.Sargsyan has reaffirmed his invitation to his Turkish
counterpart Abdula Gul for presence on September 6 Armenia-Turkey
match. In his interview to Turkish "Radikal" Sargsyan emphasized that
Gul’s visit to Armenia will certainly serve as grounds for development
of both countries’ interaction, despite the closed state borders for
15 years and absence of diplomatic relations.
"I wouldn’t make an invitation to my Turkish counterpart if I didn’t
believe in the significance of his visit. We’ve been neighbors for
centuries and have survived through many difficulties. Armenia is
in favor of development of our relations and expects the same from
Turkish side."
Questioned if he believed in successful end of secret negotiations,
Sargsyan said "I would not encourage them, if didn’t believe they
were useful for us."
"We have to make important decisions for the development of our
relations. These decisions will not be easy but I hope both Armenian
and Turkish people will encourage them," Sargsyan added.
President also emphasized that Armenia doesn’t consider Ankara’s
recognition of Armenian Genocide as precondition for the establishment
of diplomatic ties. "Every Armenian from any part of the world still
believes that the Genocide did take place, but we don’t make this an
essential condition for improvement of our relations," he added.
Note that Turkish president hasn’t decided yet if he would accept
Sargsyan’s invitation. "We still analyze the topic, we must know
if this will be useful for us or not," Abdula Gul told Turkish NTV
channel.