ITAR-TASS, Russia
Sept 7 2008

Armenia, Turkey ready to normalize bilateral relations

07.09.2008, 04.37

YEREVAN, September 7 (Itar-Tass) – Armenian and Turkish foreign
ministers Edvard Nalbandyan and Ali Babacan expressed determination to
full-fledged normalization of bilateral relations during the two-hour
talks late on Saturday.

Earlier in the day Turkish President Abdullah Gul arrived in Armenia
for several hours. At the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Serzh
Sargsyan he visited a qualifying match for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,
where Turkey won 2:0 against Armenia. This was the first historic
visit of the Turkish president to Armenia. After Gul left for Turkey
Babacan stayed in Yerevan for talks at the republic’s foreign
ministry.

The Armenian side attaches importance to the visit of the Turkish
delegation led by President Abdullah Gul to Yerevan, Nalbandyan
said. This visit creates wide opportunities for a dialogue between the
two countries’ authorities, he said.

Nalbandyan believes that this is a good beginning that will have a
positive follow-up.

As for normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations the foreign
minister confirmed Armenia’s readiness to establish relations with
Turkey without any preconditions. He stressed that Armenia considers
Gul’s visit a serious impulse in this direction.

The two diplomats discussed in detail Turkey’s initiative to create
the platform of stability and security in the Caucasus. In this
respect Nalbandyan pointed out that Armenia welcomed the idea of
creating the platform aimed at establishing confidence, stability,
security and cooperation in the region.

During the talks Nalbandyan and Babacan touched upon international and
regional problems and discussed recent conclusions made at the
negotiations on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, the Armenian
foreign ministry’s information department said.

The ministers agreed to meet again within the framework of the UN
General Assembly in New York in late September.

After the talks Babacan left for Ankara.