TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER DUE IN YEREVAN

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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

ANKARA (RFE/RL)–Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan was expected to
arrive in Yerevan to participate in Thursday’s high-level meeting of
the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organization and possibly
hold fresh fence-mending talks with his Armenian counterpart.

The visit was still not officially confirmed by the Armenian and
Turkish governments as of Wednesday evening. "We don’t have any
information about that so far," a spokeswoman for the Turkish Foreign
Ministry told RFE/RL from Ankara.

Armenian officials seemed confident that Babacan will make what would
be his second trip to Armenia in eight months. "The likelihood of
his arrival is high," a diplomatic source in Yerevan told RFE/RL.

Babacan and Armenia’s Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian held a
group meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in Istanbul on April
7. Reports in Turkish and Western media had said that they might
announce an agreement on a gradual normalization of Turkish-Armenian
relations on the sidelines of the BSEC ministerial meeting in Yerevan.

However, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has poured cold
water on the speculation, repeatedly stating this month that Ankara
will not establish diplomatic relations with Yerevan and reopen the
Turkish-Armenian border before a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict acceptable to Azerbaijan. Erdogan’s statements came amid an
uproar in Azerbaijan over the possible lifting of the 16-year Turkish
economic blockade of Armenia.

That a breakthrough in Turkish-Armenian relations is not on the cards
was reportedly echoed by Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze late
Tuesday. "The opening of the Turkish-Armenian border is not expected,"
the Azerbaijani APA news agency quoted Vashadze as saying after talks
with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington.

The BSEC meeting in Yerevan is also due to be attended by Azerbaijan’s
Deputy Foreign Minister Mahmud Mamedguliev. Azerbaijan will assume
the organization’s rotating presidency from Armenia at the meeting.