TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER ESTIMATES INCREASED DIALOGUE WITH ARMENIA

Anatolia News Agency
Sept 10 2008
Turkey

ANKARA (A.A) -Turkey’s foreign minister expressed hope for more
dialogue with Armenia after Turkish and Armenian presidents watched
a World Cup qualifying soccer match in Yerevan last Saturday.

"In the new era for the Turkish-Armenian relations, there will be a
new momentum in dialogue and we are pretty hopeful for the new era
as we have seen a solution-oriented position on the part of Armenia,"
Ali Babacan told a televised interview on Wednesday.

Babacan however said "there were quite a few problematic issues"
between Turkey and Armenia, such as the incidents of 1915, the Upper
Karabakh [Nagornyy Karabakh] problem. The two countries also have no
diplomatic relations.

Babacan said he had been talking Turkish-Armenian relations with
his counterpart, Eduard Nalbandian, as well as relations between
Azerbaijan and Armenia.

"We have an ongoing process between the foreign ministers of the
two countries and we are in search of solutions to the problem,"
Babacan said.

Babacan said he might hold a joint meeting with Azeri and Armenian
foreign ministers on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meetings
in New York.

"Armenia seems to have passed a threshold now, and the diplomatic
traffic and our impression from the Armenian president and the foreign
minister reveals that there is a strong will for solution in Armenia,"
Babacan said.

"They do understand our sensitivities and we do understand theirs. We
have many reasons to be optimistic," he said.