TURKISH FM ON ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE TO TURKISH COUNTERPART

Journal of Turkish Weekly
Feb 10 2010

Turkey’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that the letter sent by
Armenian President Serzh Sargsian to his Turkish counterpart Abdullah
Gul was a routine message sent by leaders while flying over Turkish
territory.

Foreign ministers of Turkey, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia met at
a trilateral consultancy meeting and afterwards held a joint press
conference in the Turkish capital of Ankara.

Replying to questions at the conference, Turkish Foreign Minister
Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed that Armenian President Sargsian sent a
routine letter to Turkish President Abdullah Gul and added, "Mr.

Sargsian has expressed his positive wishes in his message".

Upon a question on whether he would travel to Iran soon, Davutoglu
said he would pay a visit to this country next week.

"We would like to hold comprehensive talks during our visit. We do
not want to lose the positive momentum achieved in diplomacy," he said.

In his reply to a question on the conflict between Serbia and Kosovo,
Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic said such issue was a political
matter coming from history, adding that his country would never accept
a unilateral declaration of independence.

Jeremic said Serbia would not accept such declarations by the local
administrations in Kosovo, however, it supported a solution that
would be acceptable for all the parties.

Upon a question on the separation demand of the Serbians in Bosnia,
Turkish Minister Davutoglu said that Bosnia’s territorial integrity
was the basic principle for the UN and all international organizations.

Davutoglu said the negotiations between the ethnical groups in Bosnia
should be carried out in accordance with the principles of territorial
integrity and irrevocability of the borders.

Expressing the importance of the decision to appoint ambassadors
between Bosnia and Serbia, Davutoglu said such a development would
contribute to peace between the Bosnians and Serbians living in
Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Commenting on the separation demand of the Serbians living in Bosnia
as well, Serbian Minister Jeremic said his country had full respect
for the territorial integrity of Bosnia and all other UN-member states.

Jeremic said problems should be solved through dialogue and talks
between representatives of the three nations in Bosnia and within
the framework of the Bosnian constitution.