RUBEN SAFRASTYAN: FOOTBALL DIPLOMACY PRODUCES RESULTS

PanAremenian News
April 23 2009
Armenia

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Joint declaration of Armenian and Turkish Foreign
Ministries on road-map shows that football diplomacy is producing
results, NAS RA Institute of Oriental Studies Director, Professor
Ruben Safrastyan told PanARMENIAN.Net.

"The statement does not speak of negotiation results, but I hope the
progress in Armenian-Turkish relations is not achieved at expense of
Armenia’s national interests of," he said.

Prof. Safrastyan is not surprised that statement was made public today,
a day before April 24. "It is obvious that U.S. urges Ankara to open
the border and normalize relations with Armenia. Once again, it proves
that good Armenian-Turkish relations are not an issue between Armenia
and Turkey only, but is also an issue of geopolitical importance,"
he said and added that President Serzh Sargsyan’s visit to Moscow is
not coincidence either.

"I am confident that Sargsyan and Medvedev will dwell on
Armenian-Turkish relations," Prof. Safrastyan said.

On April 22, Turkey, Armenia agreed on road-map to normalize
ties. The joint statement issued by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs
of Armenia and Turkey said that Turkey and Armenia, together with
Switzerland as mediator, have been working intensively with a view to
normalizing their bilateral relations and developing them in a spirit
of good-neighborliness, and mutual respect, and thus to promoting
peace, security and stability in the whole region.

" The two parties have achieved tangible progress and mutual
understanding in this process and they have agreed on a comprehensive
framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations in a
mutually satisfactory manner. In this context, a road-map has been
identified.

This agreed basis provides a positive prospect for the on-going
process," the statement said.