OPENING OF ARMENIAN BORDER LINKED TO KARABAKH, TURKISH LAWMAKER SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.04.2009 14:56 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A senior Turkish lawmaker has said the opening of
the border between Turkey and Armenia is part of a larger package
that also includes settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem.

"Opening the border is not a matter started by U.S. President Barack
Obama’s recent visit to Turkey," Yasar Yakis, the head of Parliament’s
EU Harmonization Commission, told reporters on Sunday. "The issue has
been on the table since 2007, and Switzerland is involved," Yakis said.

Turkish and Armenian diplomats have been holding closed-door talks to
normalize ties since 2007. It is not clear what role Switzerland plays,
but the talks are believed to be hosted by it. Some say Switzerland
is also a mediator, but there has been no official statement detailing
its involvement.

Yakis said Turkey had no problems with the people of Armenia. "There is
a problem caused by the Armenian Diaspora," he said. "Mr. Obama brought
up the matter during his visit to Turkey after momentum was created
by the Armenian Diaspora in the United States," he said, noting there
is an impression that Turkey would open the border without resolution
of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. "Such an impression is not correct,"
he said, Tosday’s Zaman reported.