Mideast Mirror
May 18, 2005
>>From today’s Turkish press
[parts omitted]
ARMENIAN ISSUE: Semih Idiz writes more in sorrow than in anger
on Turkish-Armenian relations in Milliyet: “Instead of making an
effort to conduct dialogue with Turkey, Armenia’s use of the European
Council’s summit in Warsaw as a platform to present its well-known
thesis has demonstrated how thorny relations are between Ankara and
Yerevan. Instead of boosting hopes for a compromise that arose with
the letter Prime Minister Erdogan sent him some time ago, Armenian
President Robert Kocharyan’s approach in Warsaw almost ended these
hopes and has disappointed the Turkish side, which had already low
expectations…”
Oktay Eksi takes a strong line in support of the government in
Hurriyet: “We support the position that Erdogan took against the
claims of Armenian genocide in Warsaw. Because there is not a single
country in the world whose hands are clean on the issue of genocide
and there is no country more innocent than Turkey.”
Ismet Berkan puts the dispute with Armenia in political perspective in
the centre-Left Radikal: “The key point in Turkish-Armenian relations
is the Karabakh problem and the continued Armenian occupation of
the one-fifth of Azerbaijani land. If Armenia and Azerbaijan reach
an agreement and the occupation ends, it will help Turkish-Armenian
relations too. At least the two countries may begin to discuss their
bilateral relations. The issue of genocide is not a political problem
between Turkey and Armenia but between Turkey and the Armenian Diaspora
in the West.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress