Armenia and Turkey remain committed normalizing bilateral relations soon, President Serzh Sarkisian said late on Thursday after holding what he called “useful” talks with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul in Prague.
The two leaders met on the fringes of a European Union summit in the Czech capital for a third time in eight months. The meeting came two weeks after Ankara and Yerevan announced that they have “identified a roadmap” for establishing diplomatic relations and reopening the Turkish-Armenian border.
“We agreed to honor our agreements,” Sarkisian told journalists after the talks. He said the two sides will “move towards normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations without preconditions and within reasonable time frames.”
Gul also seemed satisfied with his discussions with Sarkisian but did not comment on possible dates for border opening. He said they also discussed regional security issues, stressing the importance of both the Turkish-Armenian dialogue and the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. “I think that improved relations in the Caucasus will stem from everyone’s interests,” the Turkish president told reporters.
Gul cited in that regard Sarkisian’s meeting earlier in the day with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev which international mediators said marked further progress towards a Karabakh settlement. He did not specify whether such a settlement is a necessary condition for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly stated in recent weeks that Ankara will not reopen the Armenian border as long as the Karabakh dispute remains unresolved. Turkey’s powerful military has endorsed those statements.
“Preconditions are out of question,” insisted Sarkisian. “Simply out of question.”
Still, Sarkisian’s political opponents say he has already accepted at least some of the Turkish preconditions by discussing the Karabakh conflict with the Turks and agreeing to the creation of a Turkish-Armenian commission of historians. The commission would reportedly look into the 1915 mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
Many in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora view such a study as a Turkish ploy designed to keep more countries of the world, notably the United States, from officially recognizing the massacres as genocide.
“We agreed to honor our agreements,” Sarkisian told journalists after the talks. He said the two sides will “move towards normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations without preconditions and within reasonable time frames.”
Gul also seemed satisfied with his discussions with Sarkisian but did not comment on possible dates for border opening. He said they also discussed regional security issues, stressing the importance of both the Turkish-Armenian dialogue and the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process. “I think that improved relations in the Caucasus will stem from everyone’s interests,” the Turkish president told reporters.
Gul cited in that regard Sarkisian’s meeting earlier in the day with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev which international mediators said marked further progress towards a Karabakh settlement. He did not specify whether such a settlement is a necessary condition for the normalization of Turkish-Armenian ties.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly stated in recent weeks that Ankara will not reopen the Armenian border as long as the Karabakh dispute remains unresolved. Turkey’s powerful military has endorsed those statements.
“Preconditions are out of question,” insisted Sarkisian. “Simply out of question.”
Still, Sarkisian’s political opponents say he has already accepted at least some of the Turkish preconditions by discussing the Karabakh conflict with the Turks and agreeing to the creation of a Turkish-Armenian commission of historians. The commission would reportedly look into the 1915 mass killings and deportations of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.
Many in Armenia and its worldwide Diaspora view such a study as a Turkish ploy designed to keep more countries of the world, notably the United States, from officially recognizing the massacres as genocide.