TURKEY AND ARMENIA GO ON NEGOTIATIONS, FOREIGN MINISTRY

Anadolu Agency
June 24 2009
Turkey

ANKARA (A.A) – 24.06.2009 – The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on
Wednesday that Turkey and Armenia were going on their negotiations
in various levels.

The spokesperson of the ministry said that two countries were holding
talks on matters concerning themselves.

"We are discussing all issues with Armenia, and what is important
is principles we set," spokesperson Burak Ozugergin told a press
conference in the capital Ankara.

Ozugergin said that there was also an ongoing process between
Azerbaijan and Armenia, and both processes were affecting each other.

The spokesperson referred to recent remarks of the presidents of
Azerbaijan and Armenia that they had reached a compromise that a
progress was necessary and that the shuttle democracy should be
maintained.

Ozugergin said that Turkey was supporting solution of Upper Karabakh
dispute through peaceful means, and a positive course of the process
would contribute to the peace and stability in the Caucasus.

The spokesman also said that Turkey would support any positive
development or step in the Minsk process.

"Settlement of Upper Karabakh problem will restore stability in the
region, and make it sustainable," Ozugergin said.

Also, Ozugergin said that Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu
might meet foreign ministers of other countries, including his Armenian
counterpart Eduard Nalbandian, in the Greek island of Corfu during
an informal meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) this weekend.

Ozugergin said that Davutoglu would meet his Greek counterpart on
the sidelines of the meeting.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic or economic relations since
Armenia declared its independence in 1991 and Turkey closed its border
with Armenia after this country invaded the Upper-Karabakh region of
Azerbaijan in 1992.

Minsk Process and Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) aim to find a political solution to
the conflict over Upper-Karabakh region over which Armenia fought
Azerbaijan in a war in the 1990s.

On July 24, 2008, then Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan expressed
Turkey’s willingness to normalize relations with Armenia at a press
conference in New York, saying that Turkey also wanted to create an
atmosphere of dialogue with Armenia.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul travelled to Armenia in September
2008 to watch 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier match between the two
countries upon an invitation by President Serzh Sargsian of Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia are to play another qualifier in Istanbul in
September 2009.