VARTAN OSKANIAN: WE’LL DEMAND THAT TURKEY OPEN THE lAST CLOSED BORDER
OF EUROPE AND ESTABLISH NORMAL RELATIONS WITH ARMENIA
BRUSSELS, APRIL 28, NOYAN TAPAN. Late April 27 the "Brussels Forum
2007" representative conference (organized by the German Marshall Fund
of the US and the Bertelsmann Fund) started its work in Brussels. The
Armenian foreign minister Vartan Oskanian is also participating in
the conference.
Estonian and Lithuanian presidents, Belgian prime minister, foreign
ministers of Georgia, Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Canada, NATO
Secretary-General, commissionaires of the European Commission, other
high-ranking officials are among conference participants.
On April 28 V. Oskanian along with Georgian foreign minister Gela
Bezhuashvili and chairman of the Foreign Relations Commission of
Azerbaijani parliament S. Seidov was the prinicipal speaker at the
discussion "From the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea: New Euroatlantic
Challenges".
In his speech the RA foreign minister addressed the role of European
and Euroatlantic organizations in the reagion, presenting some aspects
of relations of these organizations and other global forces with
Armenia. He spoke about the approach adopted by Armenia, which aims
to promote further intergation with European structures and takes
into account the interests of other forces involved in the region.
V. Oskanian also spoke about Armeni’s economic progress, noting that
a two-digital economic growth has been registered in the country for
the seventh consecutive year. Although, in his words, during the ten
years that have passed after the ceasefire, Azerbaijan and its ally –
Turkey were waiting for Armenia to collapse under poverty and economic
stagnation, this has not taken place and will not happen. The minister
noted with regret that no lessons are drawn from this experience, as
a result of which Azerbaijan and Turkey make new efforts to blockade
Armenia. One evidence is the 700 million dollar deal signed recently,
which envisages constructing a new railway that bypasses Armenia.
"The new railway will not cause greater damage than the closed
border. It is the political climate that will suffer, and not economic
benefits. We’ll continue to speak in favor of operating the existing
railway. We’ll go further and demand that Turkey open the last
closed border in Europe and establish normal relations with Armenia,
" the Armenian foreign minister stated.
V. Oskanian noted the contradiction between the approaches to conflicts
which are officially voiced by GUAM countries and their initiative
at the UN. He re-asserted Armenia’s position, according to which it
is impossible to address four different conflicts in one resolution.
According to the RA MFA Press and Information Department, within the
framework of the conference, V. Oskanian had meeting with Georgian
foreign minister G. Bezhuashvili.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
