Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary makes rounds in Armenia and AzerbaijanApril 8, 2010 - 17:53 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - As Turkish and Armenian leaders prepare to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington, Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu is making the rounds in Armenia and Azerbaijan. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent Sinirlioglu as a special envoy to Baku on Friday to convey a letter to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. The Turkish diplomat previously held high-level talks in Yerevan on Wednesday. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu confirmed that Turkey would continue its efforts to secure peace and stability for the Southern Caucasus in the light of the normalization protocols signed between Turkey and Armenia in October. “We need to overcome the existing difficulties together in accordance with this vision,” Davutoğlu said Friday during a press conference with Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas, Hurriyet reported. The Armenian-Turkish Protocols The Protocols aimed at normalization of bilateral ties and opening of the border between Armenia and Turkey were signed in Zurich by Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu on October 10, 2009, after a series of diplomatic talks held through Swiss mediation. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |