If held, secret talks between Yerevan and Ankara fruitless

PanARMENIAN.Net - Although the football diplomacy line seems to develop, the Armenian-Turkish relations have not changed much recently: the border is still closed, diplomatic relations are not established, an Armenian professor said.



"With arrival of Turkish President Gul last September, Yerevan and Ankara established communication. However, reconciliation depends on whether Ankara will agree to establishment of diplomatic relations without preconditions or not," Ruben Safrastyan, director of the Institute of Oriental Studies at the RA Academy of Sciences, told a news conference in Yerevan today.



Ankara pretends to be interested in normalization of relations with Yerevan, according to him.



"If held, secret talks between Armenian and Turkish diplomats have failed to produce effect so far," he said.



Commenting on the apology campaign launched by Turkish intellectuals, prof. Safrastyan said it was a brave initiative.



"Although not all of the initiators use the term genocide to describe the massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, they seem to encourage the Turkish public for an open discussion of the issue," he said.



Over 27 thousand Turkish intellectuals, authors, journalists, scientists and musicians have already signed the petition which reads, "My conscience does not accept the insensitivity showed to and the denial of the Great Calamity that befell the Ottoman Armenians in 1915. I reject this injustice and for my share, I empathize with the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers. I apologize to them."