AzerNews Weekly, Azerbaijan
Dec 18 2009
Turkish reporters meeting counterparts in Yerevan
18-12-2009 06:38:04
Reporters of Turkey’s major media outlets are meeting in the Armenian
capital Yerevan with their counterparts. The discussions aim to forge
ties and create an environment of mutual understanding by covering
relations between the two nations, who face decades of enmity.
The meeting, to last till Sunday, is taking place as part of a project
of the Eurasia Partnership Foundation aiming to promote unbiased
coverage in the Turkish and Armenian media, Novosti Armenii news
agency reported. Attending the meeting are employees of Turkey’s
leading media, including CNN Turk and NTV channels, as well as
Milliyet, Sabah, Hurriyet, Cumhuriyyet and Akhsham newspapers.
Kadri Gursel, a Milliyet commentator, said at the meeting that Turkey
will not ratify the agreement on normalizing ties signed with Armenia
in October unless progress is made in settling the Armenia-Azerbaijan
conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh. `And there is no change in
Ankara’s stance at this point.’
Farhad Boratav, a CNN Turk department head, said Turkey and Armenia
`are not a couple dancing tango, as the United States, Russia and
Azerbaijan are also involved in this dance.’
`No one was expecting Azerbaijan to put up such resistance [against
normalization of Turkey-Armenia relations]. Neither was anyone
anticipating Azerbaijan’s pressure in the East-West energy game. And
this is the reason of Turkey’s ending up in a challenging situation.’
The Turkish and Armenian governments signed protocols in Zurich
October 10 to forge diplomatic ties and open the sealed border,
following decades of hostility caused by the Armenian occupation of
Azerbaijani territory and claims on `genocide’ in the Ottoman Empire.
Ankara’s move caused a cool-down in its relations with Baku. Turkey
assured its ally, however, that parliamentary approval of the
documents depends on a fair Garabagh settlement.
The meeting of the Turkish and Armenian reporters was funded by the
Norwegian government and the US Agency for International Development
(USAID).
The two countries’ journalists met for the first time in the Turkish
town of Bursa this past October and discussed the media’s role in
promoting Turkey-Armenia reconciliation.*
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
