"NORMALISATION OF RELATIONS IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE"
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[08:10 pm] 01 October, 2008
"I welcome any step that will help reduce the tension in
the Armenian-Turkish relations and raise the level of possible
cooperation," leader of the United Labour Party (MAK) Gurgen Arsenian
told a press conference today while assessing Turkish President
Abdullah Gul’s visit to Armenia.
He welcomed Serzh Sarkissian’s initiative targeted at bringing the
process of the Karabakh conflict settlement to a more productive
phase. According to him, the latest Russian-Georgian event showed that
the normalisation of relations with Turkey is of vital importance for
Armenia. "Armenia’s economy would be at the threshold of paralysis if
the war lasted another 10 days," he said. It’s necessary to normalise
the relations between the two countries and establish economic,
political and public ties.
Asked whether Turkey’s activeness can play a negative role in the
Karabakh conflict resolution, Gurgen Arsenian said it’s necessary
to apply diplomatic flexibility to avoid that danger. "If Turkey’s
activeness can bring any danger, the leadership of the country should
be able to neutralise it with its diplomatic tools: it’s already the
task of diplomats," Gurgen Arsenian said.
With regard to home issues, the MAK Leader said, "It is time the
opposition and authorities started a dialogue. They had better have
vis-a-vis meetings and debates."
Gurgen Arsenian’s call for a dialogue was mostly addressed to the
authorities as they have more chances and resources to start a
dialogue. Anyway, he cited the Constitution and said that "power
takeover is not excluded in Armenia as we are a democratic country."