Tert, Armenia
Sept 19 2009

No Preconditions, Says Armenia’s Foreign Minister
12:24 ¢ 19.09.09

Foreign Minister of Armenia Edward Nalbandyan responded to Turkey’s
prime minister’s announcement that until the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh
is settled, the Armenian-Turkish border will not open, reports the
Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia’s press office. Nalbandyan
stated:

`The Turkish side has been informed, and we are certain they know,
that we are excluding imposing conditions on the establishment of
Armenian-Turkish relations by resolving the Nagorno-Karabakh
settlement issue.

`If we attempt to connect those two processes, it’s possible that we
might fail in one or the other. Many countries take the same approach,
including the countries of the Minsk Group co-chairs, who have
numerously stated that the establishment of relations between Armenia
and Turkey must be without preconditions.

`It is with this mutual understanding that we have begun negotiations
and come to a mutual agreement, which are reflected in the presigned
protocols.

`If Turkey’s leadership has issues connected with the signing of the
documents, it shouldn’t attempt to solve those issues in contradiction
of the spirit, character and objectives of the presigned documents.

`The signing of the agreed-upon documents and their implementation
with [all its] complexities is a huge process. Although Armenia is
ready to respect the agreements, in order to move forward.

`If modern Turkey’s governing authorities are not ready today to
accept the fact of the Genocide, then at least they are obligated to
be respectful toward Genocide survivors and their children.’

Tert.am