SYRIA READY TO MEDIATE BETWEEN ARMENIA, TURKEY: PRESIDENT

People’s Daily Online
March 23 2010
China

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday expressed his country’s
willingness to "play a role in building common ground for relations
between Armenia and Turkey," in light of Damascus’ good relationship
with both of Ankara and Yerevan.

Al-Assad made the remarks in a joint press conference with visiting
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan who started a three-day official
visit to Damascus on Monday.

The two leaders held talks on bilateral relations as well as the latest
developments of conditions in the Middle East and Caucasus regions.

President Assad described the visit of his Armenian counterpart as a
"milestone following my visit to Yerevan," in pushing forward the
Syrian-Armenian relations.

Sargsyan said that Armenia highly appreciates its relations with Syria,
describing the relations as "cordial and warm."

The Syrian president reiterated that it is necessary to overcome
all differences between Armenia and Turkey, resorting to dialogue as
to continue the process of confidence building, hailing Sargsyan’s
decision to develop relations with Turkey as "courageous based on a
far-sighted vision".

Al-Assad also affirmed Syria’s willingness to help build a " common
ground" to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations in the interest of
the region’s security and stability.

Referring to Armenia’s relations with Turkey, Sargsyan told reporters
that "the solution to conflicts and crisis could be through peace
talks and dialogues," noting Armenia is working seriously for peace
in South Caucasus region.

Yerevan claimed that about one million Armenians were killed by the
Ottoman Empire at the early years of last century, a tragedy still
is an obstacle to the normalization of relations between Yerevan and
Ankara, despite both sides have issued official statements to build
confidence and overcome the tragic pages of the past.

The two leaders also expressed satisfaction with the bilateral
relations and voice their desire to expand mutual cooperation in
all fields.