Armenia favors Turkey's bid to join European Union

PanARMENIAN.Net - "Armenia favors Turkey's bid to join the European Union because it might improve the prospects for overcoming the strained relations between Ankara and Yerevan," RA Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan said in an interview with the Financial Times.



"I think it would be good for us if Turkey's desire to become a member of the European Union were satisfied. Maybe the problems between us could find a solution within an EU framework," he said.



Mr Sargsyan, describing himself as optimistic that Armenia and Turkey would make progress, asked: "After all, what do we gain, what do the Turks gain, from the present situation? Even in the time of the cold war, when Armenia was part of the Soviet Union and Turkey was in NATO, we used to have a certain relationship with Turkey. A railway line was built through Armenia to Turkey. A high-voltage electricity line was built between the two countries. Why should my wish for relations not be logical now?"



Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia and closed its borders with its smaller, poorer neighbor in 1993 in solidarity with Azerbaijan, its regional partner, the FT reminds.



"Turkey and Armenia are also at odds over the mass killings of Armenians in 1915 in the Ottoman Empire, an event that Armenia regards as genocide, but which the modern Turkish state refuses to recognize as such," the newspaper notes.