SYRIA OFFERS TO HELP ARMENIA-TURKEY RAPPROCHEMENT
Monday Morning
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March 29 2010
Lebanon
"Syria is ready to play a role… for the establishment of
Turkish-Armenian relations that can ensure normal stability and
security in the region", Assad told a joint news conference with his
Armenian counterpart Serge Sarkissian in Damascus last week.
"I think… officials in Armenia have given us their full confidence,
which is why we are starting immediate steps, especially since
President Sarkissian encouraged us" to do so, he said.
Assad praised Yerevan’s decision to normalize its relations with
Turkey despite "many difficulties".
Sarkissian said his country supported "peaceful solutions and dialogue
to resolve the dispute… without questioning and forgetting its
history".
Long divided over the issue of mass killings of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire in World War I, Ankara and Yerevan signed an accord
in October to establish diplomatic ties and open their border. But
the process has hit snags, with both countries accusing each other
of lacking commitment to the accord.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their kin perished in a systematic
extermination campaign during World War I as the Ottoman Empire
fell apart.
Turkey counters between 300,000 and 500,000 Armenians and at least
as many Turks were killed in civil strife when Armenians rebelled
against their Ottoman rulers and sided with invading Russian forces.