FRENCH PRESIDENT WELCOMED POLITICAL COURAGE OF GUL AND SARGSYAN
PanARMENIAN.Net
08.09.2008 15:45 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ French President Nicolas Sarkozy welcomed Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul’s visit to neighboring Armenia as "courageous
and historic".
"While the region is in the midst of a serious crisis, (his visit)
is a courageous and historic gesture for Turkish-Armenian relations,"
Sarkozy, who currently holds the European Unions rotating presidency,
said in a statement "It allows hope for progress soon in establishing
normal relations between Turkey and Armenia," he added.
Gul made his landmark visit to Turkey’s eastern neighbor – the first
by a Turkish head of state to the ex-Soviet nation – for the first
of two World Cup qualifiers between the two national teams.
"We hope we will be able to demonstrate goodwill to solve the problems
between our countries and not leave them to future generations,"
Armenian President Sargsyan said after the meeting with his Turkish
counterpart.
Sarkozy paid "tribute to the political courage of President Gul and
President Sargsyan" and said he was hoping that reaching out will
allow both countries to show the world that "reconciliation is possible
through openness, dialogue and the respect of others," the AP reports.