Armenia and Turkey took a step toward reconciliation Monday by announcing they would launch final talks aimed at establishing diplomatic ties. Both sides said in a joint statement they expected the talks to take six weeks and to end with an agreement setting up and developing ties. The two countries, whose shared border is closed, are US allies and came under American and European pressure to move toward peace.
The talks still face pitfalls, and will follow months of inactivity after signs of promise earlier in the year when President Obama appealed for reconciliation during a visit to Turkey.
The parliaments of the two countries must ratify a deal on diplomatic normalization, and in Turkey, nationalist sentiment and suspicion about Armenian intentions is particularly high.
Also, despite an agreement that the process should proceed without preconditions, Turkey’s prime minister has linked it to a resolution of the dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Azeri region that was occupied by Armenian troops. The Turkish population shares close cultural and linguistic relations with Azerbaijan, which is pressing Turkey for help in recovering its land.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto“lu said Monday that Turkey would „guard“ Azerbaijan’s interest during its reconciliation with Armenia, saying in comments that „our aim is to establish stability in the Caucasus.“
Turkey, however, clearly seeks to enhance its growing image as a regional statesman and a coveted ally of world powers in a strategic and often unstable region. The rapprochement with Armenia coincides with efforts to resolve a long-running feud with Kurdish citizens _ issues that are vital to Turkish efforts to earn membership in the European Union.
Turkish government is not immune to domestic pressure, especially from nationalists who believe Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo”an is trying to undermine secular principles. That internal division has contributed to slow progress on the Armenian issue.
Armenian President Serge Sarkisian indicated the dispute would not be a deal-breaker between the two neighbors. “It’s important that historical justice be restored. It’s important that our nations are able to establish normal relations,” Sarkisian said in an interview published Monday by the BBC Russian service. “But we do not regard a recognition of genocide as a preliminary condition for establishing relations.”
Turkey was one of the first countries to recognize Armenia’s independence in 1991, but the two countries never established diplomatic relations and their joint border has been closed since 1993.
The joint statement released by the Armenian and Turkish foreign ministries Monday said the two countries would start consultations to sign two protocols _ one to establish diplomatic ties, the other to develop relations. The talks, with continued mediation by Switzerland, are to last six weeks.
In agreeing to move forward and normalize relations, landlocked Armenia is eager for a reopening of the border and the trade opportunities it would bring. The border was closed after Armenian forces took control of the Azerbaijani region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
The Turkish foreign minister said, however, that opening the border was out of the question for now. “A longer process is required for that,” Davuto“lu said Monday.
Turkish-Armenian ties began to improve after a
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