Turkey's MFA ready to establish relations with Armenia, Turkish professor saysMay 23, 2008 - 17:36 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey's policy toward the South Caucasus states bases on two principles: territorial integrity and neighborly relations with all states of the region, a Turkish expert said."The Turkish government is willing to enjoy neighborly relations not only with Georgia and Azerbaijan but also with Armenia," head of the department of international relations at University of Economic and Technology, prof. Mustafa Aydin said in his remarks during Caucasus 2007 international conference in Yerevan. The February 19 presidential election in Armenia inspires hope for gradual normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations, according to him. "The Turkish Foreign Ministry eyes the Armenian diplomacy as 'very soviet', old-fashioned and clumsy. Our diplomacy, on the contrary, is west-oriented and supposes joint efforts for normalization of relations. Reconstruction of Holy Church in Akhtamar is a serious step on the part of the Turkish government. It's Armenia's turn now," prof. Aydin said. "One of such steps could be softening of position on Nagorno Karabakh. Ankara understands that much should be done for resolution of the conflict but initially Armenia could withdraw troops from 7 Azerbaijani regions. In this case, Turkey could open the border, which was closed in 1993. Actually, Turkey's MFA is ready to establish relations with Armenia but pressure is too strong. Anyway, I think that normalization of the Armenian-Turkish relations is not far away," he said. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. 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". Partner news | Power of One Dram sums up two-year program with Teach for Armenia Idram Junior also joined the companies during the visit, bringing with it a fascinating intellectual game for children Moscow slams EU mission in Armenia for “provocative activity” The EU mission is doing more and more against Armenia’s neighbors Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, Mikhail Galuzin said. Yerevan Mayor to travel to Paris on May 15-19 The official delegation headed by Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan will travel to Paris from May 15 to 19. Armenia, India hold first defense consultations The meeting was attended by Indian Ambassador Nilakshi Saha Sinha and Defense Attaché Brigadier General Naveen Nijhawan. |