One day there will be "historic reconciliation" between Turks and Armenians, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has said.
He was answering a question about the impasse in Armenian-Turkish relations, posed yesterday by Armenian MP Naira Zohrabyan during debates at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
"Last year, when I signed the protocols between Turkey and Armenia to normalize relations, we fully intended to meet three objectives," Ahmet Davutoglu said, according to the record of proceedings on the PACE website.
"The first was to start a process to normalize our relations with Armenia as two friendly nation states, not only to open the border, but to have the most open relations between the two of us like those which we have with our other neighbouring states. That applies to Armenia as well. Secondly, we tried to start a new era between Turks and Armenians on historical reconciliation based on a just memory. The third is to normalize relations in the South Caucasus, which means normalization between Turkey and Armenia but also between Turkey [sic] and Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan also is a member country."
He went on to criticize Armenia's occupation of Azerbaijani land, including Nagorno-Karabakh, but was optimistic about the future.
"It is also a violation of our main values if a member country occupies 20% of the territory of another country. If we respect all the values of the Council of Europe, I am sure that one day we will have a very peaceful atmosphere in South Caucasus. We will have excellent relations between Turkey and Armenia, perhaps even better than with other neighbours. We will have a historic reconciliation between Turks and Armenians wherever they are. In our foreign policy, we see no threat or enemy. There are two categories of country around us – friends and potential friends. Today, all the other countries are friends with us and we see Armenia as a potential friend, and if they also accept that they want to see friends around them, including Azerbaijan and others, that zone of the Council of Europe in South Caucasus will be one of peace, prosperity and stability. That is our objective, and I am sure that with the wise leadership of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey we will one day achieve it despite all the difficulties."
Ahmet Davutoglu had addressed PACE in his capacity as chairperson of the Committee of Ministers. His speech dwelt on Turkey's priorities for its six-month chairmanship of the committee, including reform of the European Court of Human Rights.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
