UPI Hears…
UPI
November 24, 2004 Wednesday 3:00 PM EST
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24
Insider notes from United Press International for Nov. 24
[parts omitted]
Is there a thaw in the decades-old cold war between Armenia and
Turkey? Armenian President Robert Kocharyan is urging Turkey to abandon
its 11-year blockade of the country. After a shooting war broke out
between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1991, Turkey shut its border with
Armenia to show solidarity with Azerbaijan, still involved in long
and bitter territorial dispute with Armenia. Kocharyan said, “Turkey
is blockading Armenia, one can only call that harassment.” Relations
between Armenia and Turkey have been strained since World War I over
the killing of 1.5 million Armenians by the Ottoman Turks between 1915
and 1923. This is a charge Turkey denies. Making a peace offering,
Kocharyan said that Armenia would not insist Turkey admit to genocide
for talks on normalizing relations to proceed, commenting, “For us, the
recognition of the genocide of Armenians in 1915 by Turks is certainly
very important, but it will never be a condition for the development
of bilateral relations. If Ankara recognized this fact, it would be
a significant step forward in the direction of normalizing relations.”