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ANKARA: Ankara Expects Steps from Yerevan

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  • ANKARA: Ankara Expects Steps from Yerevan

    Zaman, Turkey
    May 31 2005

    Ankara Expects Steps from Yerevan
    By Suleyman Kurt
    Published: Tuesday 31, 2005
    zaman.com


    The letter exchange process between Turkey and Armenia after the
    debates over the so-called Armenian genocide allegations became heated
    has been endangered by the Yerevan administration for not showing an
    expected approach.

    Ankara will not write a response letter to Armenian President Robert
    Kocharian if the present conditions continue.

    Kocharian responded with, "Firstly, let's establish a diplomatic
    relationship and then an inter-governmental commission to handle the
    issues" to a letter from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan offering
    "Let a group, comprised of historians and other experts, to research
    the events in 1915" and Kocharian's response even though it does
    not fully meet the expectations of Ankara, it was considered in a
    positive perspective.

    However, the expected approach has not shown by the Yerevan
    administration over the last month. Since Erdogan and Kocharian did
    not meet in Warsaw and Kocharian's harsh attitude at the European
    Council summit have complicated the answer to the letter.

    Diplomatic sources have drawn attention to the steps Turkey has taken
    and that this could be interpreted, as "trust building" in recent
    times are not truly transferred to the Armenian public opinion.

    Sources say, "Yerevan-Turkey flights continue. Those vehicles,
    carrying goods between the two countries, can come and go through
    Georgia. Thousands of Armenian citizens can work in Turkey, including
    Ankara. However, those facts are not explained to the Armenian public
    by their government."

    On the other side, the single positive piece of news to reach Ankara
    from Yerevan lately is that the Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
    Oskanian's former statement related to the "Kars Treaty" that said,
    "As being inherent of the Soviet Union, all of those treaties signed
    by the Soviet Union are assumed to be approved unless the opposite
    is stated" has been published on the Armenian Foreign Ministry's
    web site. However, Ankara expects to receive this statement through
    "official" channels.
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