TURKEY CONSIDERS "DE FACTO" DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA

Hurriyet
Nov 24 2008
Turkey

The Turkish government is planning to restore diplomatic relations
with Armenia by appointing an "accredited ambassador" if the Yerevan
administration agrees to take a step on investigating the 1915
incidents. (UPDATED)

Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian arrived Monday in Istanbul
where he attended a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization (BSEC).

Nalbandian met his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan later in the day
and discussed bilateral relations, including the so-called "genocide"
claims of Armenia.

Hurriyet.com.tr said the two ministers were also expected to discuss
the normalization process of relations and that Turkey is planning
to propose the appointment of an accredited ambassador to Yerevan
without opening a diplomatic mission.

There is no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey, as
Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called
"genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey’s call to investigate
the allegations, and Armenia’s invasion of 20 percent territory
of Azerbaijan.

Turkey and Armenia have been holding contacts indirectly with the
mediation of Georgia. With the new Turkish proposal, Georgia would no
longer act as an intermediary and the appointment of an accredited
ambassador would eventually mean the "de facto" establishment of
diplomatic relations between the two countries.

TURKEY’S CONDITION

The report said Turkey has one condition for the establishment of
de facto diplomatic relations. Ankara would ask Armenia to send a
message saying it is warm to the proposal of forming a commission to
investigate the 1915 incidents.

Armenia, with the backing of the diaspora, claims up to 1.5 million
of their kin were slaughtered in orchestrated killings in 1915.

Turkey rejects the claims saying that 300,000 Armenians, along with at
least as many Turks, died in civil strife that emerged when Armenians
took up arms, backed by Russia, for independence in eastern Anatolia.

Turkey has offered to form a joint commission to investigate what
has really happened in 1915 and opened up all official archives,
but Armenia is dragging its feet in accepting the offer.