TURKISH LEADER SAYS ARMENIA, AZERBAIJAN KEEN TO MEND FENCES
The Daily Star
Sept 12 2008
Lebanon
ANKARA: Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Armenia and Azerbaijan are
willing to resolve their conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region
after talks in the two countries, Anatolia news agency reported
Thursday. Armenia and Azerbaijan both have "an honest and sincere
desire for a settlement," Gul told reporters on a flight back from
talks in Baku, which followed his historic trip to Yerevan on Saturday,
Anatolia reported.
"I am coming back with feelings of great content and optimism,"
Gul said, adding that the conflict between Georgia and Russia had
triggered a new desire to resolve outstanding problems in the Caucasus.
Turkey wants progress in ending Nagorny Karabakh tensions between
Azerbaijan, one of its closest allies, and traditional foe Armenia,
which would allow Ankara to take bolder steps in its reconciliation
bid with Yerevan.
Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia because
of its international campaign for the recognition of the mass killings
of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire during World War I as genocide.
In 1993, Turkey also dealt a heavy economic blow to its impoverished
eastern neighbor by shutting the border in a show of solidarity
with Azerbaijan, then at war with Armenia over Nagorny Karabakh,
an Armenian-majority region in Azerbaijan which declared independence.
Gul played down suggestions that Ankara’s push to reconcile with
Yerevan had irked Azerbaijan, which has close economic and political
ties as well as ethnic and cultural bonds with Turkey.
"We agree that we should make efforts to try to resolve the issue
… If this opportunity is missed, who knows when a new opportunity
will arise? … Everyone is aware that a settlement will lead to
comprehensive cooperation from which all will benefit," he said.
Gul became the first Turkish head of state to visit Armenia when
he traveled to Yerevan on Saturday to watch a World Cup qualifying
soccer match between the two countries on an invitation by Armenian
President Serzh Sarkisian.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Wednesday he was trying to
set up a trilateral meeting with his Azeri and Armenian counterparts
on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York later this
month.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
