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Turkey Sees =?UNKNOWN?Q?`Political_Ties'?= With Armenia

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  • Turkey Sees =?UNKNOWN?Q?`Political_Ties'?= With Armenia

    Al-Jazeerah.info, GA
    April 30 2005

    Turkey Sees `Political Ties' With Armenia

    Agencies, Arab News

    ANKARA, 30 April 2005 - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was
    reported yesterday as saying Turkey was ready to build `political
    relations' with neighboring Armenia despite their disagreements over
    history and territory. Turkey broke off diplomatic ties with the
    ex-Soviet republic in 1993 over Armenia's occupation of territory
    inside Azerbaijan, a regional Turkic-speaking ally of Ankara.

    Ankara also angrily rejects Yerevan's claims that 1.5 million
    Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks during
    World War I. Turkey says the Armenians were victims of a war which
    claimed even more Muslim Turkish lives.

    But Erdogan, worried the genocide issue could harm Turkey's plans to
    start European Union entry talks in October, recently urged Armenia
    to help set up a commission of historians from many countries to
    establish what really happened.

    Erdogan renewed that invitation in an interview with Milliyet
    newspaper, adding: `On the one hand, political relations could be
    established. On the other hand, work (on the archives) could
    continue. There is no Chinese Wall between us.'

    Armenian President Robert Kocharyan said this week he was ready to
    accept Erdogan's proposal for a joint commission to probe the
    genocide claims but he also said it was necessary to improve broader
    relations first. Erdogan did not mention the possibility of restoring
    full diplomatic relations, but his comments were the clearest sign
    yet that Turkey wants to mend fences with Armenia.

    Some EU politicians, notably in France, home to Western Europe's
    largest Armenian population, have said Turkey should recognize the
    alleged genocide of Armenians before being allowed to start accession
    negotiations with the wealthy bloc. But German Chancellor Gerhard
    Schroeder, who is due to pay an official visit to Turkey next week,
    ruled out any linkage between the start of EU entry talks and the
    Armenian question.

    `This (recognition of genocide) cannot be a precondition. This is
    about bilateral relations. It's for the historians to decide (what
    happened),' Schroeder told Turkey's NTV commercial television in an
    interview broadcast yesterday. He also praised Erdogan's offer to
    open up Turkey's archives on the period and his call for an
    international commission. `It's very important for a nation to look
    at its history with an attitude of self-criticism,' Schroeder added.

    He said an expected vote in the German Parliament in the coming weeks
    on a resolution concerning the alleged genocide should not upset
    relations between Ankara and Berlin. Turkey has in the past
    threatened countries that do recognize the massacres as a genocide
    with diplomatic sanctions.

    Erdogan also accused the European Union of fanning nationalism in
    Turkey by interfering in the issue of its minority Kurds, the
    newspaper said. Turkey has eased restrictions on Kurdish language and
    culture as part of its drive to join the EU, but some politicians and
    top generals fear Kurdish separatists are trying to use the more
    liberal climate to extract more concessions.

    An unsuccessful attempt by youths last month to burn a Turkish flag
    during a pro-Kurdish demonstration triggered protest rallies and
    marches by angry Turks across the country.

    http://www.aljazeerah.info/April%202005%20News/30%20n/Turkey%20Sees%20Political%20Ties%20With%20Armenia. htm
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