TURKISH PACE PRESIDENT NAVIGATES DELICATE VISIT TO ARMENIA

Hurriyet
May 13 2010
Turkey

PACE President Mevlut Cavusoglu (L) shakes hands with Armenian
President Serge Sarkisian during their meeting in Yerevan on
Wednesday. AFP photo

The Turkish President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe, Mevlut Cavusoglu, arrived in Yerevan Wednesday amid
controversy.

Cavusoglu's refusal to visit an Armenian memorial site of the events of
1915, forced Armenian authorities to change the nature of his trip from
an "official" visit to that of a "working" one and sparked a boycott
of meetings by the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Dashnaktsutyun.

The Dashnaktsutyun said it will refuse to meet with CavuÅ~_oglu, a
Turkish citizen, during his visit to Yerevan, Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty's Armenian Service reported.

CavuÅ~_oglu met Wednesday with President Serge Sarkisian, who expressed
hope that the PACE delegation visit would shape a more objective view
of Armenia and the challenges in the region. "This visit will provide
an opportunity to discuss issues on our agenda, and I'm confident
that it will contribute to the deepening of cooperation between
the Republic of Armenia and the Council of Europe," said Sarkisian,
the U.S.-based newspaper Azbarez reported on its website.