Armenia-Turkey policy discussions held in Yerevan
2010/03/26 | 11:57

politics

Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) together with the Istanbul-based
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) and with funding from USAID,
held Armenia-Turkey policy discussions at the Armenia Marriott Hotel
in Yerevan on March 25, 2010.

The meeting brought together a number of distinguished opinion makers
and media professionals from Turkey and Armenia. The list of
participants included Mr. Alexander Arzumanyan, Former Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Armenia; Ambassador Yalim Eralp (Turkey);
Ambassador David Hovhannisyan (Armenia); Mr. Mehmet Ali Birand,
renowned Turkish journalist, political commentator and writer; and
others. U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie L. Yovanovitch, EPF Director
Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan, and GPoT Director Mensur Akgun welcomed the
participants with opening remarks.

`The meeting today is part of a process to help lay a foundation for
greater regional integration, something we believe to be very
important that will lead to enhanced regional stability and enhanced
economic cooperation and development in the two countries,’ said
Ambassador Yovanovitch. She noted that experiences in other countries
show that civil society actors, individually, but more often,
collectively, have come to play a new and important role in conflict
resolution around the world. `Any activity, whether at the elite,
middle-range, or grassroots level, aimed at transforming the
cross-border relationship, contributes to progress and to an
atmosphere more conducive to conflict resolution, and we hope that
this initiative will bring us one step closer to improved dialogue and
cooperation between Armenia and Turkey,’ she said.

The meeting was part of EPF’s USAID-funded `Days Two and Three in
Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement’ project, which seeks to build ties and
to develop mutual understanding among Armenian and Turkish peer groups
in the non-government, media, and business sectors, helping them to
contribute strategically to state efforts to build relations between
the two countries. The discussions did not focus on Armenian-Turkish
protocols but rather elaborated on the entire range of recent
Armenian-Turkish developments. A special emphasis was made on what
should be done within Track Two Diplomacy efforts to advance the
process of normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations.

EPF Country Director Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan said: `It is important that
despite the current tense political situation, our colleagues from
Turkey are visiting Armenia for Track Two Diplomacy discussions. We
see that Turkish civil society is making a genuine effort to overcome
any roadblocks on the way to normalization of ties between our two
countries. We in Armenia support these efforts.’