TURKEY IS OPEN TO DIALOGUE WITH ARMENIA, FM SAYS
Turkish Daily News
Oct 4 2007
With the possibility of a vote looming on a resolution to classify
the killing of Armenians in 1915-1916 at the hands of the Ottoman
Empire as genocide in the United States Congress, the Turkish and
Armenian foreign ministers met in New York to discuss the matter,
the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
"We are open to dialogue any time," the agency quoted Foreign
Minister Ali Babacan as saying to Vartan Oskanian, the Armenian foreign
minister. Turkey closed its border with Armenia and cut diplomatic ties
after Yerevan’s occupation of Azerbaijan’s Nagorno-Karabagh region in
1993. Relations between the two neighbors worsened as Armenia launched
an intensive global campaign for the recognition of the killings as
"genocide." Turkey says the Armenians were victims of widespread chaos
and governmental breakdown as the 600-year-old empire collapsed in
the years before Turkey was born in 1923.
Diplomats familiar with the meeting said the purpose was to allow
the two ministers to meet each other, as Babacan has become foreign
minister recently. The request came from the Armenian side, reported
the agency.
The Armenian minister congratulated Babacan on his party’s success
in general elections, the agency reported.
During the meeting, Oskanian underlined the need for the reopening
of the Turkish-Armenian border, while Babacan said that Turkey and
Armenia are still engaged in trade through third countries like Iran
and Georgia.
Babacan also raised the matter of the resolution submitted to the
U.S. Congress on the genocide issue. Babacan reiterated the Turkish
position, adding, "history cannot be rewritten through the votes
of politicians in parliaments." Babacan also pointed to a Turkish
proposal to establish a joint commission of historians to analyze
the issue scientifically.
Diplomatic sources said the ministers agreed to keep in touch and
create opportunities for more meetings in the future.
Meanwhile Babacan showed Oskanian pictures of the historic Akdamar
Church in Van, which recently underwent renovation in Turkey, the
Anatolia news agency reported.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
