TURKISH FM: RECOGNITION OF BORDERS WITH ARMENIA INITIAL STEP TO ESTABLISH TIES TURKISH FM: RECOGNITION OF BORDERS WITH ARMENIA INITIAL STEP TO ESTABLISH TIES

Xinhua General News Service
September 1, 2009 Tuesday 10:25 PM EST
China

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Tuesday said the recognition
of borders between Turkey and Armenia is "an important element"
for the normalization of bilateral ties.

"The most important aspect of good relations between two neighbors
is that they should recognize each other’s borders," said Davutoglu
in a televised interview with Turkey’s private news channel NTV.

"We know that normalization will be a prolonged process, but every
such process starts with an initial step, which is the recognition
of borders in this case," Davutoglu said.

Turkey and Armenia said in a joint statement Monday that they agreed
on starting internal political consultations on the establishment of
diplomatic ties and development of bilateral relations.

Under the protocol inked by Turkey and Armenia, the two countries
agreed to open the common border within two months after the entry
into force of this protocol.

The foreign minister also underscored the importance of the settlement
of the Azerbaijani-Armenian dispute as "a parallel process" to the
normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.

"An individual normalization process cannot live unless a comprehensive
normalization is achieved in the wider region. Frozen conflicts are
like bombs ready to go off in our hands," Davutoglu said.

He said Turkey had shared information with Azerbaijan at every step
of the negotiations between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey and Armenia have had no diplomatic or economic ties since
Armenia declared its independence in 1991. Turkey closed its border
with Armenia in 1993 to support Azerbaijan during the latter’s conflict
with Armenia over the Upper Karabakh region.

Armenia also 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 that the
Armenians were victims of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown
as the 600-year-old Ottoman Empire collapsed.

In a landmark visit, Turkish President Abdullah Gul travelled to
Armenia in September 2008 to watch a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier
match between the two countries, invited by Armenian President Serzh
Sarkisyan.