RUSSIAN PREMIER SPECIFIES POSITION ON ARMENIAN-TURKISH RELATIONS

news.am
Jan 13 2010
Armenia

"Both the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and the Turkish-Armenian problem
are most complicated in themselves. I do not think it is right to
consider all the problems in a package," RF Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin stated at a news conference held jointly with his Turkish
counterpart Recep Erdogan. He underlined Moscow’s readiness to help
resolve both the problems.

According to Putin, each of the problems is most difficult to resolve
separately. "And if we lump this all together, it will put off the
solution for distant future," Putin said. He considers it tactically
and strategically inadvisable to link the two problems. The Russian
Premier stressed that Russia is the most interested in the improvement
of relations between the countries of the region. "A great number of
invisible threads connect us with both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Millions of Azerbaijanis and Armenians live in Russia and have
relatives and friends here. Russia is developing its economic ties
with the states," Putin said as quoted by RIA Novosti.

The Russian Premier also stated Russia is interested in the resolution
of all the problems of the Soviet times, including the Nagorno-Karabakh
problem. "We know about the bitter legacy Turkey and Armenia received
from the past, and we are interested in the Turkish-Armenian relations
being improved," Putin said. With great hopes Russia welcomed the
normalization initiative, the Russian Premier said. "We hope very
much that any elements of extreme approaches resulting from the past
problems will be removed from the negotiation process," Putin said. The
RF Premier pointed out that the Armenian leaders are on this positive
way as well. He stated that Russia respects the positions taken by
all of its partners, and its role in the settlement process is to
support all the efforts to resolve the complicated problems.

During his visit to Moscow the Turkish Premier held talks with the
Russian leaders.