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  • BAKU: Turkish Journalists' Visit To Armenia Arranged

    TURKISH JOURNALISTS' VISIT TO ARMENIA ARRANGED

    AzerNews Weekly
    May 27 2009
    Azerbaijan

    A group of Turkish journalists have visited Yerevan in a bid to
    advance the solution of problems between Turkey and Armenia through
    public diplomacy, the influential Turkish Huriyyet newspaper reported.

    Armenia and Turkey have been at odds and the border between the two
    countries has been closed since 1993 on Ankara`s insistence due to
    Armenia`s policy of occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian
    claims about an alleged World War I-era genocide.

    The journalists, who headed to the Armenian capital as part of the
    Turkey-Armenia Journalist Dialogue Project, have held a number of
    meetings with government officials and political leaders.

    Emma Mirzabekian, head of the Women`s Resource Center who first
    hosted the visitors, revealed sensational facts. According to her,
    such disasters as war, earthquakes and unemployment have turned
    Armenia into "an Amazon country."

    Mirzabekian said that, according to the 2001 census, 2.1 million, out
    of Armenia`s overall population of 3.15 million, are women. Economic
    pressures that emerged following the collapse of the Soviet Union
    in 1991, and a powerful earthquake that killed 30,000 people, have
    caused many men to flee the country. Also, men who died during the
    Garabagh war in the early 1990s have completely turned the South
    Caucasus republic into "a country of women."

    "60 percent of men are outside the country and the majority of them
    have abandoned their families, while women are having to work to
    support themselves and their children. Also, due to the lack of men,
    instances of one man living with several women are becoming more
    frequent."

    The visit was organized by the German Heinrich Boll Foundation, a
    non-profit organization striving to promote democracy, equality and
    a healthy environment internationally, and the International Hrant
    Dink Foundation.

    The Turkish media representatives witnessed a strong desire of the
    part of the Armenians to achieve recognition of the alleged Ottoman
    Empire-era genocide. For instance, Ruben Melkonian, an instructor
    with the Turkish studies section of Yerevan State University`s Western
    science department, claimed in discussions with them that "they could
    demand the homes they left behind and compensations after the genocide
    is recognized."

    The government in Yerevan has accused Turkey of genocide against
    Armenians in the latter years of the Ottoman Empire, which preceded
    modern Turkey. The Turkish government says the developments took
    place as part of clashes with Armenian groups supporting Russia
    against Turkey during World War I. Ankara insists the killings were not
    orchestrated by the Ottoman government and has proposed opening Ottoman
    archives to international scholars to try to resolve the dispute.

    Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian has said the alleged genocide
    issue would never be removed from the agenda, and Yerevan`s position
    on the issue cannot change. From this standpoint, Turkey`s citing any
    pre-conditions on resolving the Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict
    within Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity or the genocide issue is
    unacceptable, he claimed.

    As for a possible re-opening of the Turkey-Armenia border, the Armenian
    premier said the issue would be clarified by the time the soccer
    match is held between the two countries` national teams this fall.

    The Turkish and Armenian leaders attended a 2010 World Cup qualifying
    soccer match together in Yerevan in September 2008 when Abdullah
    Gul became the first Turkish president to visit Armenia. Further,
    Gul invited his Armenian counterpart to Istanbul for a return game
    due this September.

    Meanwhile, Vardan Oskanian, who served as Armenia`s foreign minister
    from 1998 until April 2008 said, speaking to the Turkish journalists,
    that his country`s relations with Turkey may actually deteriorate. He
    noted that Turkey and Armenia will not be able to make progress in
    their efforts to normalize relations if Turkish Prime Minister Recep
    Tayyip Erdogan brings the Garabagh dispute between Azerbaijan and
    Armenia to the table, noting that relations may even get worse if
    Turkish officials start to politicize issues such as Armenian workers
    in Turkey.

    "The moment we leave Garabagh out, we can improve Turkish-Armenian
    relations. If we bring Garabagh in, I really don`t see this
    happening. Garabagh is a separate issue. My conviction is that if
    Turkey normalizes its relations with Armenia first, then the Garabagh
    solution will be much easier."

    Oskanian said he first heard Erdogan bringing the Garabagh problem
    to the forefront three months ago.

    "Until that time, I was really hoping that there was a change of
    policy on the part of Turkey and we would get results," he said in
    response to questions from the journalists.

    Following recent talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in
    Baku, Erdogan said that Azerbaijan`s sensitivity about Upper Garabagh
    increased Turkey`s sensitivity, too. Erdogan said Turkey had closed
    its border gates with Armenia because Upper Garabagh was occupied
    and that it would be impossible to reopen the gates as long as the
    occupation continues. He also said the mediating OSCE Minsk Group,
    co-chaired by the U.S., Russia and France, should speed up peace talks,
    which have been continuing for 15 years.

    On the other hand, Armenian leaders have been criticizing Erdogan
    for making the normalization of ties with Armenia conditional on the
    Garabagh settlement.
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