‘NO DEAL YET’ IN ARMENIA-TURKEY BORDER TALKS: YEREVAN
Agence France Presse
April 16 2009
France
Talks between Armenia and Turkey on establishing diplomatic ties and
opening their border are making progress but no deal has been reached,
Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian said Thursday.
"There is no intention today for us to sign an agreement with
the Turkish side. Negotiations continue," Nalbandian told a news
conference.
"There is progress and we think that we really may be very close to
resolving this question in the near future," he said during a meeting
of Black Sea region countries seeking closer economic cooperation.
Media reports had speculated that the two feuding countries may sign
an agreement during Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan’s visit to
Armenia Thursday for the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) meeting.
Babacan did not take part in the press conference and was not available
for comment.
His trip coincides with stepped-up efforts between Turkey and Armenia
to resolve disputes stemming from a bloody history.
Reconciliation talks between the countries, held away from public
eye, gathered steam in September when President Abdullah Gul paid a
landmark visit to Armenia, the first by a Turkish leader, to watch
a football match.
But Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week ruled out a
deal with Armenia unless Yerevan resolved its conflict with Azerbaijan
over the breakaway Nagorny Karabakh region.
Azerbaijan has expressed concern that Turkey may be setting aside
the Karabakh question in its talks with Armenia.
Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic ties with Armenia because
of Yerevan’s international campaign to have the mass killings of
Armenians under the Ottoman Empire recognised as genocide.
In 1993, Turkey also shut its border with Armenia in a show of
solidarity with close ally Azerbaijan over the Karabakh conflict,
dealing a serious economic blow to the impoverished Caucasian nation.
During a visit to Turkey this month, US President Barack Obama urged
both countries to "move forward" in their talks and signalled that
he would not interfere in their dispute over Armenia’s genocide claims.