Turkish president heads for Armenian border
No decision yet on Armenia visit in September
KARS (July 23, 2008) – President Abdullah Gül of Turkey said today, in
response to a question from the "Armenian Reporter," that he had
thanked Armenian president Serge Sargsian for his invitation to come
to Armenia and watch an Armenia-Turkey soccer match scheduled for
September 6. But, he added, "we have not taken any decision yet."
The Turkish president is in the province of Kars today, where he is
scheduled to visit Ani, the uninhabited medieval Armenian capital on
the Turkish side of the closed border with Armenia. There he is
expected to send a message to Armenia.
Tomorrow, he will be joined by President Mikhail Saakashvili of
Georgia and President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan for a ceremony to
mark the beginning of the construction of the Turkish portion of a
railroad connecting Kars to Baku via Tbilisi. An existing Kars-Tbilisi
railroad is not operating because Turkey closed the border with
Armenia 13 years ago.
Mentioning a centuries-old bridge across the Akhurian River by Ani,
the "Armenian Reporter"’s Tatul Hakobyan asked Mr. Gül, "Don’t you
think it can be reconstructed as a new bridge between Armenia and
Turkey?"
Mr. Gül said, "Our policy is so clear. We want [a] good neighborhood.
We want good cooperation with all the countries in the region. There
are some problems; [those] problems should be removed. We want to see
this region stable, peaceful. All the countries [may have an
opportunity] to join regional projects if they recognize [the]
territorial integrity [of neighboring states]."
At a press conference in Yerevan on Monday, the Armenian president
said that Armenia and Turkey "must improve our relations." In a July 9
commentary in the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Sargsian had argued, "There
may be possible political obstacles on both sides along the way.
However, we must have the courage and the foresight to act now.
Armenia and Turkey need not and should not be permanent rivals. A more
prosperous, mutually beneficial future for Armenia and Turkey, and the
opening up of a historic East-West corridor for Europe, the Caspian
region and the rest of the world, are goals that we can and must
achieve."
Follow the developing story at
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
