ERDOGAN-SARGSYAN MEETING CONFIRMS

news.az
April 9 2010
Azerbaijan

Sargsyan, Erdogan Ankara and Yerevan agreed that their leaders would
meet next week in Washington.

Turkey and Armenia agreed that their leaders would meet next week
in a bid to revive stalled reconciliation efforts between the two
long-estranged neighbors, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said.

The meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan – to take place on the sidelines
of an April 12 to 13 nuclear-security summit in Washington, D.C. –
was agreed to in talks held by a Turkish envoy in Yerevan earlier,
the ministry said in a statement.

During the talks, the sides "confirmed mutually their commitment to
the [normalization] process and their understanding that, despite
the difficulties, this window of opportunity should not be missed,"
the statement said.

Erdogan sent Turkey’s top diplomat to Yerevan to discuss steps to
resolve the impasse on a fragile deal the two countries signed in
October to end decades of hostility, establish diplomatic relations
and open their border.

The deal – comprised of two protocols that need parliamentary
ratification in both countries to take effect – has been snagged by
disagreements over its terms, with both sides accusing each other of
lacking true commitment to reconciliation.

The Turkish envoy, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu,
held talks with Sargsyan and his Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian,
conveying a proposal that Erdogan and Sargsyan meet in Washington,
Armenia’s presidency said. An Armenian official had earlier told the
Agence France-Presse that Yerevan was considering the request.

"Sargsyan said [during the meeting] that Armenia expects Turkey to
take practical steps to guarantee decisive progress in the process
of normalizing relations, without preconditions," Sargsyan’s office
said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Paris, Erdogan said he had
sent a letter to the Armenian president through his envoy underscoring
Ankara’s commitment to see the accord to fruition. "We will always
show our loyalty to the signatures that we put down under the deal. It
is out of the question for us to take a step back unless there is an
extraordinary situation," the Turkish prime minister said. "I hope
the reconciliation process will end positively."

Earlier, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official who requested anonymity
told AFP that Sinirlioglu would "reassert Turkey’s commitment to the
reconciliation process, but will also convey our concerns."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress