TURKEY SAYS DETERMINED TO NORMALIZE TIES WITH ARMENIA

People’s Daily
Feb 11 2010
China

Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Thursday Turkey remains determined
to normalize relations with Armenia after a recent dispute threatened
to derail the two neighbors’ efforts to mend long-time rifts.

"We have to be aware that concluding this historic process will require
honoring our commitments in their entirety as well as displaying
adequate political courage and vision," Gul was quoted by local
newspaper Hurriyet Daily News as saying.

"You should have no doubt that our determination to move these
objectives forward is intact, provided that this resolve and commitment
remains reciprocal," Gul said in a response to a message given by
Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan.

In October last year, Turkey and Armenia signed historic deals on
normalizing ties and reopening their borders after nearly a century
of hostilities. The agreements need to be ratified by both countries’
parliaments before taking effect.

Last month, the Armenian Constitutional Court upheld the protocols,
but ruled that the protocols should not breach the country’s
Independence Declaration, which says Armenia will always work for
worldwide recognition of the massive death of Armenians under the
Ottoman rule in 1915 as genocide.

Turkey denies that charge and insists the Armenians were victims
of widespread chaos and governmental breakdown as the 600- year-old
Ottoman Empire collapsed before modern Turkey was born in 1923.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has criticized the Armenian
court’s ruling as "unacceptable" and said it could challenge the
reconciliation efforts between the two countries.

In Thursday’s message, Gul said "overcoming the long- established
prejudices and nurturing mutual understanding and trust among our two
neighboring peoples were indeed our main objectives when endorsing
the process of normalization between our countries."

Turkey allowed Sarksyan’s plane to fly through Turkey’s airspace en
route to London last week and the Armenian president sent a courtesy
message to Gul, according to the newspaper.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic or economic ties since Armenia
declared its independence in 1991. Turkey closed its border with
Armenia in 1993 to support Azerbaijan, which had a territorial conflict
with Armenia over the Upper Karabakh region.