TURKISH FM TO MEET ARMENIAN COUNTERPART AT MUNICH CONFERENCE

Hurriyet
Feb 6 2009
Turkey

Turkey’s foreign minister, Ali Babacan, will meet his Armenian
counterpart on the sidelines of a conference in Munich on
Friday. (UPDATED)

Babacan told reporters before his departure for Munich that he would
meet Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian on the sidelines of
the security conference to be held in this city.

Babacan said he would proceed to the Azerbaijani capital of Baku from
Germany, adding he would meet Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and
President Ilham Aliyev there on Monday.

Munih’ten sonra Baku’ye gidecegini belirten Babacan, burada 9
Å~_ubatta Azerbaycan DıÅ~_iÅ~_leri Bakanı Elmar Memmedyarov ile
göruÅ~_ecegini, ayrıca CumhurbaÅ~_kanı Ä°lham Aliyev tarafından
da kabul edilecegini kaydetti.

Babacan last week met Nalbandian on the sidelines of the annual meeting
of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, and said there has been
an ongoing process between Turkey and Armenia, who have no diplomatic
relations. He added that when a tangible outcome is achieved it would
be announced.

The two countries have no diplomatic relations and their border
has been closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the
international community with the backing of the diaspora to admit
the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey’s call
to investigate the allegations, and over Armenia’s invasion of 20
percent territory of Azerbaijan.

A warmer period began in relations when Turkish President Abdullah
Gul paid a landmark visit to Yerevan in September to watch a World Cup
qualifying football match between the two countries on the invitation
of Sargsyan. The two countries have been holding contacts at the
ministerial level since.

Future of European security, disarmament, developments in Afghanistan,
Caucasus, Balkans and the Middle East, would be discussed during the
45th Munich Security Conference, Babacan also told reporters.

The Turkish foreign minister said he would attend a panel discussion
on Balkans and the Middle East on Saturday.
–Boundary_(ID_vbP1BhFvSzqhX2pqF7hX9Q)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress