ARMENIA THANKS SWISS FOR DEAL WITH TURKEY
SwissInfo
Nov 11 2009
Switzerland
Armenia has thanked Switzerland for the "very important" role it played
in brokering a landmark accord between the Caucasus state and Turkey.
During a visit to Bern on Tuesday, Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard
Nalbandian said he hoped his country’s parliament would soon ratify
the agreement normalising relations with Ankara.
The accord was signed in Zurich last month. It calls for the opening
of borders between the former foes, and for the establishment of
diplomatic ties.
Nalbandian, speaking at a news conference alongside his Swiss
counterpart, Micheline Calmy-Rey, said Switzerland’s mediation
efforts required "determination and restraint, imagination, prudence
and patience".
For her part, Calmy-Rey thanked Nalbandian for showing "political
will and engagement" and hoped that Armenian-Turkish relations would
soon be normalised.
Turkey and Armenia are pursuing rapprochement after almost a century of
animosity stemming from the First World War mass killings of Armenians
by Ottoman Turks.
Their common border was closed 16 years ago while Armenia fought a
war with Azerbaijan, a state with close ties to Turkey.
Nalbandian and Calmy-Rey signed two bilateral agreements during the
Armenian foreign minister’s visit – a treaty on air traffic and a
deal doing away with the necessity for diplomats to apply for visas.