Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers agreed to continue such contacts, media reports suggested on Friday. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and his Armenian counterpart Edward Nalbandian met on Thursday on the sidelines of the OSCE meeting in Helsinki. Russian Interfax news agency reported the two ministers agreed to continue such meetings.
"The foreign ministers of Armenia and Turkey met in Helsinki on December 4. At their meeting, the parties continued negotiations intended to help straighten out the Armenian-Turkish relationship," an Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesman told Interfax. The two countries have no diplomatic relations and their border has been closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's call to investigate the allegations, and Armenia's invasion of 20 percent territory of Azerbaijan.
A warmer period began in the relations when Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to Yerevan in September. Two countries have been holding contacts on the minister level since. Turkey believes the renewed dialogue with Armenia could contribute to the solution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, an Azerbaijani under the occupation of Armeni. An official from the OSCE said 2008 was a good year in the sense of the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
The conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia began in 1988 on Armenian territorial claims over Azerbaijan. Since 1992 Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. Turkey had offered Armenia to open the border on the condition of the establishment of a joint commission to investigate the 1915 incidents. Armenia has been dragging its feet on accepting the proposal.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
