Ali Babacan: Turkey's aim to have zero problems with its neighbors

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey is willing to normalize its relations with the neighboring Armenia, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said late on Thursday.



"Turkey wants to create an atmosphere of dialogue with Armenia," Babacan told a news conference in New York.



"Turkish President, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister sent letters to their Armenian counterparts after recent elections in Armenia, and these letters aimed to open a new door of dialogue with the new (Armenian) administration," he was quoted as saying by the Anatolian Agency.



As a signal of efforts to revive relations between the two countries, Turkish and Armenian officials held a series of secret meetings in the capital of Switzerland on July 8. This meeting followed Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan's proposal for "a fresh start" with the goal of normalizing relations with Turkey and opening the border.



Sargsyan also invited Turkish President Abdullah Gul to watch a football match between Armenian and Turkish national teams on Sept 6 to mark "a new symbolic start in the two countries' relations". Turkey has been evaluating this invitation.



Turkey closed its border and severed its diplomatic ties with Armenia in 1993 as a token of solidarity with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno Karabakh issue. Ankara also urges Armenia to change its policy of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.



Mr Babacan said that Turkey's aim is to have zero problems with its neighbors. "Naturally, we are also expecting some concrete steps from the other party," he said, Hurriyet reports.



Babacan said he "believed that Turkey's problems could be solved through dialogue, and underlined importance of setting up a joint committee of historians to deal with the 1915 events."



In 2005, Turkey's proposal to the Armenian government to establish of a joint commission of historians and other experts from both sides to study together the events of 1915 and to open the archives of Turkey and Armenia was rejected.



Incumbent Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan gave green light recently to Turkey's proposal but only after the latter lifts the blockade of Armenia.