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Armenia hopes EU will pressure Turkey to open its border

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  • Armenia hopes EU will pressure Turkey to open its border

    Armenia hopes EU will pressure Turkey to open its border

    ABHaber, Belgium
    March 31 2006

    Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian expressed Yerevan's hope
    that Turkey will be pressured by the European Union to open its border
    with Armenia during the EU membership process.

    Oskanian made the remarks at a press conference in Washington on
    Wednesday following his contacts in the U.S.

    Underlining that Armenia has no pre-conditions for the opening of the
    border, Oskanian said, "Turkish-Armenian border is the only closed
    border gate in Europe. We hope Turkey will be pressured to open it
    during its bid to join the bloc."

    Turkey is considering reopening its border with Armenia on the
    condition that Yerevan commits to a partial pullout from the occupied
    Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan and within the process of
    normalization of relations between Ankara and Yerevan. Ankara seeks
    a withdrawal from four regions in Nagorno-Karabakh and believes that
    such a move can facilitate a comprehensive agreement between Yerevan
    and the Azeri capital Baku.

    Oskanian also stated that Yerevan supports the establishment of
    diplomatic relations with Ankara.

    Touching on the Armenian genocide claims, Oskanian said that his
    country doesn't want any discussions on his country's thesis. In a
    move to lash out at Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's
    proposal to establish a joint commission composed of Armenian and
    Turkish historians to study the genocide claims, Oskanian said,
    "Erdogan's suggestion aims to give Europe the impression that
    Turkey is "on trail" in this issue. First of all there is no need
    to reinvestigate the issue which is proved by documents. Secondly,
    it is apparent that Turkish historians won't confirm the existence of
    "genocide" as a result of their studies since in Turkey it is even
    forbidden to voice the word "genocide"."
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