The Star Phoenix (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan)
April 24, 2009 Friday
Final Edition

Turkey, Armenia work to mend ties

ANKARA/YEREVAN

Turkey and Armenia have agreed on a road map to normalize ties after
nearly a century of hostility, a move quickly welcomed by the European
Union and the United States, but which could upset oil-rich
Azerbaijan.

The deal, weeks after U.S. President Barack Obama urged Turkey to
resolve the issue, came on the eve of the commemoration of mass
killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915. The two states since
last year have held high-level talks to restore ties.

"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 Turkey and Armenia said.

The statement gave few clues on how Turkey and Armenia planned to
tackle the sensitive dispute over the 1915 killings.

Turkish and Armenian government sources said the two sides had not
signed any document, but had agreed in principle to move ahead in
establishing normal relations, which would include reopening a border
shut in 1993.

But a senior Western diplomat said the roadmap commits the neighbours
to establishing diplomatic relations, opening their border gradually
and establishing commissions to tackle historical disputes over "weeks
or months".

"All the documents have been agreed in principle but it’s from the
signing that the clock starts ticking," the diplomat told Reuters. "It
is a finite period that is not very long. We are talking about weeks
or months."

Turkey accepts many Christian Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks
but denies that up to 1.5 million died and that it amounted to
genocide.

The years of stand-off have isolated impoverished Armenia and
obstructed Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union (EU).

"We welcome the progress in the normalisation of relations between
Turkey and Armenia," a joint statement by EU Enlargement Commissioner
Olli Rehn and External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner
said.

The move appeared to indicate Ankara is willing to sacrifice
solidarity with traditional Muslim ally Azerbaijan to please the EU
and Washington and pursue a more balanced Caucasus policy.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of
Azerbaijan, which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists in the
breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region.

In public, Turkish officials reiterate they would normalize ties only
in parallel with a process to settle Nagorno-Karabakh.