ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS TO CONTRIBUTE TO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ARMENIA – RUSSIAN EXPERT

ARKA
Apr 15, 2009

YEREVAN, April 15. /ARKA/. Establishment of Armenian-Turkish bilateral
relations can contribute to development of the Armenian economy,
said Russian political scientist, executive director of the fund
"Russian World", President of the fund "Politics" Vyacheslav Nikonov.

"Establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations may have a positive
influence on Armenia, as Turkey is a strong economic player and
Armenian-Turkish bilateral relations may contribute to the development
of Armenian economy," he told reporters on Wednesday.

According to Nikonov Russia is also interested in settlement of
Armenian-Turkish relations, as it will give an opportunity for transit
through Turkey which is important for Russian business. The president
of "Politics" fund noted Turkey has its own stance in many issues,
being a member of NATO but defending its national interests.

"These interests may differ from the American ones, namely the stance
of America and Turkey differs a lot in Iraq’s issue," he said.

Nikonov stressed the establishment of Armenian-Turkish relations will
take a specific time, though there is already some progress in that
direction which is supported by Russian and USA.

"A significant number of representatives of the Turkish elite and
the Armenian officials are interested in the esta blishment of
Armenian-Turkish relations. Of course, all that was destroyed and
absent in decades cannot be restored in a second, it will take some
time," he said.

There are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey and the
state border has been closed since 1993 on Ankara’s initiative.

Turkey has set a number of pre-conditions for improving bilateral
relations, namely, Armenia’s abandoning the policy of international
recognition of the Armenian Genocide in Ottoman Empire during WWI,
when some 1.5mln Armenians were massacred. Besides Turkey has an open
pro-Azerbaijani stance in Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The progress in Armenian-Turkish relations has started since last
September 6, when President of Turkey Abdullah Gul visited Yerevan
at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart Serzh Sargsyan to be
present at a football match between the Armenian and Turkish national
teams as part of the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers.

The visit was named "football diplomacy" and was widely covered by
the press. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has recently stated
the state border will be open or close to it by the next game between
the national teams of Armenia and Turkey in October. -0–