TURKEY-ARMENIA: BREAKTHROUGH MAY LEAD TO BILATERAL ACCORD

AKI – Adnkronos International
=3.0.3243598098
April 22 2009
Italy

Turkey and Armenia have agreed on a comprehensive framework to
normalise their bilateral ties after almost a century of hostility. The
agreement was welcomed by Washington and came ahead of Friday’s
commemoration of the genocide of Armenians by Turks in 1915.

The two countries have been involved in Swiss-mediated talks to resolve
their differences and restore ties that may lead to the reopening of
borders closed in 1993. The breakthrough is likely to enhance Turkey’s
bid to join the European Union.

"The two parties have achieved tangible progress and mutual
understanding in this process and they have agreed on a comprehensive
framework for the normalisation of their bilateral relations," the
foreign ministries of both countries said late on Wednesday. "A road
map has been identified."

The long-running hostility has isolated impoverished Armenia and
hampered Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union.

The announcement of the agreement on a ‘road map’ comes just a day
before the Armenian commemoration day of the 1915 mass killings
carried out by Turks during the Ottoman empire.

Turkey does not acknowledge the killings as genocide.

Turkey and Armenia, together with Switzerland, have been working
intensively to normalise their bilateral relations and promote greater
stability in the region.

Ankara and Yerevan have no diplomatic relations. Their border
was closed in 1993 as Turkey sided with Muslim ally Azerbaijan,
which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists over the breakaway
Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Turkish media said that the Obama administration welcomed the move
and urged normalisation to take place without preconditions as well
as within a reasonable time frame.

"We urge Armenia and Turkey to proceed according to the agreed
framework and roadmap. We look forward to working with both governments
in support of normalisation, and thus to promote peace, security and
stability in the whole region," Robert Wood, a US state department
spokesman said in statement.