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TOP ARMENIAN, TURKISH DIPLOMATS HOLD RARE TALKS AT SUMMIT
Voice of America
June 25 2007
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has appealed to Turkey to
reopen the border between their countries as an essential first step
in healing historical disputes dividing them.
The Armenian minister issued his plea at talks with his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul on the sidelines of the Black Sea economic
summit in Istanbul.
But Oskanyan said he could not detect any change in Turkey's position.
Bilateral ties have been severely strained by Armenia's claim that
its people suffered systematic genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks
during World War I - a contention repeatedly denied by Ankara.
Separately in 1993, Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show
of support for ally Azerbaijan, because of its conflict with Armenia
over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people died in deportations
and systematic killings under the Ottoman Empire - the predecessor
to modern-day Turkey. Ankara has vehemently denied the accusations
and says 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil
strife during World War I.
Voice of America
June 25 2007
Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanyan has appealed to Turkey to
reopen the border between their countries as an essential first step
in healing historical disputes dividing them.
The Armenian minister issued his plea at talks with his Turkish
counterpart Abdullah Gul on the sidelines of the Black Sea economic
summit in Istanbul.
But Oskanyan said he could not detect any change in Turkey's position.
Bilateral ties have been severely strained by Armenia's claim that
its people suffered systematic genocide at the hands of Ottoman Turks
during World War I - a contention repeatedly denied by Ankara.
Separately in 1993, Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show
of support for ally Azerbaijan, because of its conflict with Armenia
over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their people died in deportations
and systematic killings under the Ottoman Empire - the predecessor
to modern-day Turkey. Ankara has vehemently denied the accusations
and says 300,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil
strife during World War I.