July 24, 2008 - 15:04 AMT
Armenia and Turkey won't reach agreement unless emotions prevail
Despite the importance of reconciliation, Armenia and Turkey will fail to come to an agreement unless past conflicts are viewed soberly, a European expert said.

"Nothing will help to resolve the problems as long as both nations are filled with emotions about the past," said Jalil Roshandel, professor at the Toulouse University of Social Studies, BBC Russian reports.

Turkey severed its ties and closed its border with Armenia in 1993 as a token of solidarity with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.

Ankara also says the normalization of ties depends on Armenia's formal recognition of the current borders with Turkey and changing its policy of calling for worldwide recognition of the Armenian Genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire.