The two neighbors have recently been engaged in high-level talks to restore ties after the border was closed in 1993 and relations were severed. "The two parties have achieved tangible progress and mutual understanding in this process and they have agreed on a comprehensive framework for the normalization of their bilateral relations," a statement from the Foreign Ministry said late on Wednesday. The Foreign Ministry also confirmed Switzerland acted as mediator in the process.The statement came at midnight, following a three-hour meeting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. It was welcomed by the US administration, which backs the normalization efforts. "It has long been and remains the position of the United States that normalization should take place without preconditions and within a reasonable timeframe," State Department spokesman Robert Wood said.
US President Barack Obama is expected to issue a traditional statement on April 24, which Armenians say marks the beginning of a systematic genocide campaign against Armenians in the Ottoman Empire during the years of World War I. Turkey denies the genocide charges. US presidents have traditionally avoided using the word genocide in their April 24 statements.
Earlier on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she was
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