GUL AIMS TO CREATE A POSITIVE CLIMATE BETWEEN TURKEY AND ARMENIA
armradio.am
26.09.2008 15:31
Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Thursday his aim was to create
a positive climate between Turkey and Armenia. "I am very hopeful
about this," he said in a meeting organized by the American-Turkish
Society in New York.
He said Turkey and Armenia did not have diplomatic relations, and
their borders were closed, although Turkey was one of the first
countries recognizing Armenia’s independence.
"However, the two countries have had humanitarian activities," Gul
said, reminding of Turkey’s wheat assistance to Armenia in 1990s.
Gul said thousands of Armenian citizens are working in Turkey due to
economic reasons and flights and cultural activities are organized
between the two countries.
"My recent visit to Armenia was for a soccer game, but I did not only
watch the game with Mr. Sargsyan. We had the opportunity to discuss
bilateral relations, the Caucasus and Azerbaijan," he was quoted by
Anatolian Agency as saying.
Gul said it is necessary to solve regional problems through dialogue,
and added he hoped that everything would normalize in the end.
Gul also said one of indicators that relations would normalize was
the trilateral meeting the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan
and Armenia will hold in New York today.
"What leaders should do is to eliminate the problems, not to feed
enmities," Gul also said.
Gul said that many projects could be carried out between Turkey and
Armenia, like establishing industrial zones at the border, after the
problems were solved, daily Hurriyet reported.