"WE WILL CONTINUE DIALOGUE WITH ARMENIA"

Thursday, 15 October 2009 10:56

Bursa Governor Shahabettin Harput gave a dinner party in honor of Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan, who visited Bursa at the invitation of Turkish president Abdullah Gul to watch the football game between Turkey and Armenia. Representatives of the Turkish and foreign media were also invited to the dinner party at Almira Hotel, APA correspondent reports from tha party. Abdullah Gul and Serzh Sargsyan attended the dinner party after the football game and talked with the representatives of Armenian community of Turkey. Gul told journalists that they overcame very long distance over the past 13 months. “Many couldn't believe that we can melt ice between the two countries. We are happy that we could do that.”When the Turkish president was asked “Will this way lead him to Nobel Prize in Oslo?” he said he didn' concern about the awards. “We would like to do our work successfully to bring peace and welfare to the region. Therefore we will continue dialogue between the countries.”

Milliyyet newspaper's columnist Taha Akyol told Serzh Sargsyan that he welcomed his visit to Turkey and supported this process heartily. Serzh Sargsyan left the question „Did you take a way of no return?“ unanswered and with a smile. When Sargsyan was asked „What do you think about Charles Aznavour's or other singers' concerts in Turkey?” he said that many of them saw the normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations without pre-conditions as normal. “There is nothing better than the progress of processes without outside interference.” APA correspondent asked Sargsyan: “You seem satisfied with the developments. How will this process impact on the liberation of Nagorno Karabakh from the occupation?” Sargsyan said: “We are busy with more serious work, for example with the normalization of Turkish-Armenian relations.” The Turkish and Armenian presidents left the APA's question “Will you send joint message to Azerbaijan?” unanswered. Abdullah Gul asked Sargsyan, who will follow to Kazakhstan, to deliver his greetings to Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev. The Turkish businessman Sharik Tara told Sargsyan that he intended to invest energy projects in Armenia in future. Some leaders of Jewish community of Turkey, sport minister Faruk Ozak, AKP parliamentarians from Bursa, as well as MHP MP from Ankara Tugrul Turkesh also attended the dinner party.