ARMENIA WANTS TURKEY TO BECOME EU MEMBER
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JUNE 28, ARMENPRESS: A senior Armenian diplomat rebuked
today the government of neighboring Turkey for keeping its border
with Armenia closed for more than a decade saying the closed border
is a major obstacle to promoting regional integration.
Addressing a round table discussion on what Armenia could expect from
Turkey in a new geo-political situation, deputy foreign minister
Gegham Gharibjanian said the Armenian-Turkish border is not only a
border separating two nations, but a border with a NATO member country
and possibly may become a border with a European Union member nation.
Gharibjanian said Turkey’s borders with Georgia and Azerbaijan are not
enough for adequate response to ongoing geo-political developments. He
said Armenia expects Turkey to open the border and establish diplomatic
relations without any precondition.” A nation that has been striving
for decades to join the European Union must open its border with
all neighboring countries,” he said, emphasizing Armenia’s policy of
“open doors” for all and its willingness to build friendly relations
with all its neighbors.
Gharibjanian also welcomed indications of positive shifts within the
Turkish society, particularly, the removal of a taboo on Armenian
genocide, the intensified contacts between representatives of the
two countries, exchange of journalists, cultural events and so on,
which he said should become a precondition for normalization of
Turkish-Armenian relationships.
Gharibjanian said Armenia wants Turkey to become an EU member, but
” a Turkey that deserves it, a Turkey which respects the European
system of values.”