NALBANDIAN CLAIMS GARABAGH NOT SUBJECT OF TALKS WITH ANKARA

AzerNews Weekly
April 8 2009
Azerbaijan

The Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict is not a
subject being raised in the current talks between Armenia and Turkey,
Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian has said.

Nalbandian claimed relations between Yerevan and Ankara should be
restored without any preconditions, adding that normalization of ties
with Turkey has no bearing on the Garabagh problem.

He also alleged that improving relations with Turkey, with which
Armenia is facing long-standing tensions, cannot question the so-called
genocide of Armenians, a claim regarding World War I-era mass killings
in the Ottoman Empire.

"Tens of countries and international organizations have recognized
the genocide, and we welcome this step," Nalbandian alleged.

Armenia and Turkey maintain no diplomatic ties and the border between
the two countries has been closed since 1993. Yerevan is failing
both to end the occupation against Azerbaijan, Turkey`s ally, and to
relinquish its territorial claims against Turkey. It also continues
propagating the "genocide" claim throughout the world. However, there
have been signs of normalization in Ankara-Yerevan ties of late,
and the two countries` officials have held several rounds of talks.
From: Baghdasarian