Anatolia News Agency, Turkey
Nov 25 2008

Turkish FM leaves for Tajikistan, notes progress in talks with Armenia

TOP TURKISH DIPLOMAT CITES "PROGRESS" IN TALKS WITH ARMENIA"

ANKARA (A.A) -25.11.2008 -Turkish foreign minister cited "progress" in
what he described as "a busy diplomacy traffic" with Turkey’s eastern
neighbour Armenia.

"We have been moving ahead and making progress with Armenia each time
we talk to each other, and I hope talks between both Azerbaijan and
Armenia, and Turkey and Armenia could produce certain results in a
reasonable time," Ali Babacan told reporters before departing from the
Turkish capital for a tour Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

Babacan said his contacts with Armenian Foreign Minister Edward
Nalbandian also went well, adding that Turkish, Azeri and Armenian
ministers might come together during a meeting of the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe next week in Helsinki.

"Our goal is to fully normalize relations between the countries of the
region and our efforts for a stability platform in the Caucasus are
continuing," he said.

Responding to a question on a visit of a European Parliament group in
Ankara on Tuesday, Babacan said the European Union wanted Turkey to
continue with the reforms process.

"And we want the EU not to come up with issues which do not have
anything to do with our negotiations and put them as obstacles before
us," Babacan said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress