Xinhua General News Service, China
April 24, 2009 Friday 11:40 AM EST

Turkish president appeases Azerbaijan over talks with Armenia

ANKARA April 24

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said on Friday that all initiatives
with Armenia were serving the best interests of Turkey and Azerbaijan,
the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Gul made the remarks at the Esenboga Airport in Ankara before heading
for Bulgaria. He said he had spoken to Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev for many times regarding the talks between Turkey and Armenia.

quot;Therefore, there are not any problems,quot; said Gul, adding that
Turkey hoped that there would be firmer cooperation in the region, and
problems would be solved.

Late on Wednesday, the Turkish Foreign Ministry released a statement
in which it said Turkey and Armenia had agreed on a comprehensive
framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations in a
mutually satisfactory manner.

On April 7, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan confirmed in Istanbul
that his country has held talks with Armenia for months to normalize
ties.

quot;We are working on a comprehensive solution and our talks are
going well. We have made significant progress so far and both parties
have declared satisfaction over the process several times, quot; said
Babacan.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in support of Azerbaijan
during its conflict with Armenia over the Upper Karabakh region.

Armenia claims that more than 1.5 million Armenians were killed in a
systematic genocide in the hands of the Ottomans during World War I
before modern Turkey was born in 1923.

But Turkey insists the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and
governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old empire collapsed in the
years before 1923.