PanARMENIAN.Net
Babacan: Turkey has never been closer to normalizing ties with Armenia
17.01.2009 16:48 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Turkey’s Foreign Minister has warned Barack Obama’s
incoming administration that any U.S. recognition of the Armenian
Genocide could derail reconciliation efforts between the two
neighbors, Hurriyet Daily News reports.
"It would not be very rational for a third country to take a position
on this issue… A wrong step by the United States will harm the
process," Ali Babacan said late Friday.
"Turkey has never been closer to normalizing ties with Armenia, its
eastern neighbor, and a breakthrough could be secured in 2009."
Babacan said the dispute was among the issues that Ankara and Yereven
had been discussing since reconciliation efforts gathered steam in
September when Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to
Armenia.
Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic relations since 1993, when
Turkey closed the border with Armenia to support Azerbaijan in the
Nagorno Karabakh issue.