NO PRECONDITIONS FOR NORMALIZATION OF YEREVAN-ANKARA TIES – SERZH SARGSYAN

Itar-Tass
April 13 2010
Russia

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Itar-Tass) – There must be no preconditions in
the process of normalization of relations between Yerevan and Ankara,
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said on Monday.

He met on Monday for talks with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan
within the framework of the international nuclear summit.

"Our position remains clear. Turkey cannot speak the language of
preliminary conditions," he stressed at a meeting later on Monday with
representatives of the Armenian diaspora in the USA. At the same time
he pledged that Armenia would keep making steps towards normalization
of ties with Turkey.

Focusing on the settlement of the conflict around mostly Armenian
populated Azerbaijani enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, the president
said that problem was not linked with normalization of ties between
Yerevan and Ankara.

He added that his country believed Turkey must not make attempts to
join the international mediation in the settlement of the Nagorno
Karabakh conflict. The OSCE Minsk Group, where Russia, the USA and
France hold the chairmanship, makes efforts in that direction.

A statement of White House’s press service circulated after talks
between Sargsyan and U.S. President Barack Obama, noted that the
American leader gave high marks to efforts of his Armenian counterpart
towards normalization of ties with Turkey.