ARMENIA AIMS TO RENEW TURKEY TIES
Al-Jazeera
April 17 2009
Qatar
Armenia has said that it is close to re-establishing full relations
with Turkey following nearly 100 years of hostilities. Edward
Nalbandian, Armenia’s foreign minister, met his Turkish counterpart
Ali Babacan in Yerevan for talks that could lead to the border between
the two nations being reopened after more than 15 years.
"The negotiations are ongoing and progress has been registered,"
Nalbandian said after the meeting at a Black Sea economic conference
in the Armenian capital on Thursday. "We could be very close to
settling the issue in the near future," he said. Turkish media
reported Babacan saying on his return to Ankara, the Turkish capital,
that his country’s leaders wanted an "all-encompassing" solution and
"full normalisation" of ties. "We want a solution based on a wide
perspective," he said. Genocide dispute Turkey hopes that a deal with
Armenia could aid their chances of joining the EU, but there remains
differences between the two nations over the first world war killing
of up to 1.5 million Armenians under Ottoman rule. The incident is
regularly cited as the first genocide of the 20th century, but Turkey
denies that there was any systematic campaign to kill Armenians.
There is also discord over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, which Armenia
gained from Azerbaijan after a six-year conflict at the end of the
Soviet Union’s rule of both nations. Turkey closed its border with
Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijian. Ankara wants the talks
with Armenia to run in parallel with negotiations between Armenia and
Azerbaijan over the future of the region. Azerbaijan has said that
any deal between Ankara and Yerevan could only follow concessions
from Armenia on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. The EU and US have
both urged Armenia and Turkey to resolve their disputes and re-open
their borders. ‘Package deal’ Hugh Pope, a senior analyst with the
International Crisis Group, told Al Jazeera from Istanbul: "It is the
best chance we have seen for a long time. It is a package deal. As
far as we know they are gong to establish diplomatic relations,
open that border and also have a commission to discuss the history
of everything. "And I think this comes after the two sides are really
changing. On the one side we have a new government in Armenia over the
past year. They are seeking some international legitimacy after the
problems they had at the beginning. "They are also seeking more work
[and] the economy will be helped on both sides by opening the border.
"And also the weakness of Armenia. Its isolation was demonstrated
quite graphically with the fighting in the Caucuses last year.
"And on the Turkish side we have a government that has for several
years now been trying to improve relations with all its neighbours
and it has proved that in Iraq and by opening up to Cyprus.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
