SWITZERLAND CONFIRMS ROLE AS MEDIATOR BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY

SwissInfo
April 7 2009
Switzerland

Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has confirmed her role as a
mediator between Armenia and Turkey.Calmy-Rey met with officials from
the two countries along with United States President Barack Obama on
the sidelines of a United Nations conference in Turkey.

It is the first time Switzerland has confirmed it is working to bring
the two sides together. Obama has called on Armenia and Turkey to
normalise relations.

Calmy-Rey had been in Turkey for a meeting of the UN’s Alliance of
Civilizations, where she took part in a panel discussion, attended a
lunch with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan and had dinner
with Turkish President Abdullah Gul.

The foreign minister was part of a six-person delegation that heard
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Danish premier and incoming Nato
secretary-general, call for a deeper dialogue with the Islamic world.

Rasmussen will become the Nato head on 1 August after longstanding
opposition from the Turkish government, which was angered over
the publication in Danish newspapers of caricatures of the Prophet
Mohammed.

Rasmussen said an apology was out of the question. "Freedom of
expression is vital. The same applies to the respect for religious
feelings. We have to bring both to an exact balance," he said.

Ministers and heads of state from some 30 countries attended the
meeting. The Alliance of Civilizations was founded in 2005 by Spain
and Turkey months after the bloody bombings in Madrid.