  Turkish Foreign Ministry: if Turkey does not give its permission, NATO exercises in Armenia will be canceled August 24, 2010 - 18:27 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Department of Eurasia Mehmet Fatih Ceylan said that if Turkey does not give its permission to passage of a NATO convoy through its border with Armenia, the NATO exercises due September 11-17 can be canceled. “In theory, Turkey can refrain from granting its permission and opening the border to allow passage of the required equipment. But there will be exercises of humanitarian relief units and they will not be of a military nature,” noted Ceylan. According to him, if NATO were going to deliver military-technical equipment through the territory of Turkey to Armenia for the exercises, Ankara would have rejected its permission. “According to the exercises scenario, an earthquake hits Armenia, while NATO forces go there to provide assistance,” said Ceylan, adding that Turkey, as a NATO member, cannot hamper passage of a NATO convoy for similar exercises. However, according to the diplomat, this step does not indicate that Turkey will officially open its border with Armenia, Trend News reported. The Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1995 due to the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, in which Turkey supports Azerbaijan. Related links:   Top stories 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". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads.   Partner news |  Latest news The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity  The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization.Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia.Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty.Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. |
