Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Turkey Discusses Relations Normalization With Armenia

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Turkey Discusses Relations Normalization With Armenia

    TURKEY DISCUSSES RELATIONS NORMALIZATION WITH ARMENIA

    Reporter, Greece
    June 1 2006

    11:46 - 01 June 2006 - Turkish and Armenian officials have been
    discussing normalizing relations, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said
    Wednesday, despite the fact that Armenians accuse Turks of genocide and
    the two countries have no diplomatic ties. "A negotiation process has
    started between the two countries to seek a common ground," Foreign
    Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan said. "Three rounds of talks were held
    so far."

    The talks have apparently led to no breakthroughs, but that the two
    countries are even talking might be considered one in itself.

    Several informal earlier attempts at dialogue faltered amid disputes
    between Turks and Armenians over the massacres of Armenians at the
    time of World War I. Armenians say that Ottoman Turks slaughtered
    1.5 million Armenians in a planned genocide and have demanded that
    Turkey recognize the killings as such.

    Turkey vehemently denies that the mass killings were genocide, saying
    the death toll is inflated and Armenians were killed in civil unrest
    as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

    The talks between Turkish and Armenian foreign ministry officials
    started after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent a
    letter to Armenian Prime Minister Robert Kocharian asking for the
    two countries to open a joint historical investigation to research
    the killings, Tan said.

    Kocharian wrote back, leading to a series of talks, he said. Tan said
    the talks would continue, but would provide no substantive details.

    He requested that Armenia adopt a more flexible and constructive
    approach to regional problems, saying, "Turkey is intending to pursue
    efforts to normalize relations with Armenia."
Working...
X