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Sargsyan Will Watch Football In Turkey If Ankara Opens Border

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  • Sargsyan Will Watch Football In Turkey If Ankara Opens Border

    SARGSYAN WILL WATCH FOOTBALL IN TURKEY IF ANKARA OPENS BORDER

    Interfax
    Aug 31 2009
    Russia

    Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said his trip to Turkey to watch
    a football match should not be associated with an improvement in
    Armenian-Turkish relations.

    Sargsyan said he would travel to Turkey to watch football, if the
    border is open by this time, or if the sides come near to this
    decision.

    "It is one thing if Turkey fulfils our agreements, and another if it
    does not. We are bound with agreements. I think it would be normal
    and correct for the sides to honor their agreements," Sargsyan said
    in an interview with the BBC's Russian service.

    "Unfortunately, I have not witnessed to date any strong desire or
    drive to fulfill these agreements. Our wish remains the same: to
    establish relations without prior terms," the Armenian president said.

    Armenia does not see the recognition of the genocide of the Armenians
    in 1915 as a preliminary term for establishing relations with Turkey,
    but, at the same time, does not view its own position as a compromise,
    either, he said.

    A second leg between the Armenian and Turkish football teams will
    take place in Turkey on October 14. The Armenian president has been
    invited to watch. In September 2008, Turkish President Abdullah Gul
    visited Yerevan for the first time, and the two presidents watched
    a match between the two national football teams.

    The Armenian-Turkish border was closed on Ankara's initiative in
    1993. Turkey wants Armenia to pull out troops from Nagorno-Karabakh
    and to recognize Azerbaijan's territorial integrity.
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