11.01.2001, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. Amid the French Parliament's moves to recognize the Armenian genocide, Ankara has signaled that it wants to have diplomatic contact with Armenia, an influential Turkish paper "Turkish Daily News" reported today quoting an anonymous senior diplomat from the Foreign Ministry of Turkey.
As the Turkish diplomat noted, this fact does not mean creating full diplomatic relations with Yerevan. The focused attention of the European countries on the Armenian Bill has brought to the aggravation of the situation and development of anti-Turkish attitudes in the whole world. He said that for this reason they have presented an extensive plan to the government to stop the anti-Turkish initiatives that have turned into a worldwide campaign. The plan is a road map on how to normalize relations with Armenia and then how to place the discussion over the genocide issue into its proper venue.
The issue of Nagorno-Karabakh has also been a focal point, the Turkish diplomat said. According to him, it keeps its place as a priority in Turkish foreign policy but the resolution of the Karabakh dispute was not a precondition to having talks with the Armenians. "With this plan, we aim to contribute to the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, to normalize bilateral relations and to put discussions of the Armenian genocide in its proper venue", said the diplomat.
Meanwhile, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu has stressed that creating diplomatic relations with Yerevan was not at all on Turkey's agenda. He added that to have diplomatic contacts with Yerevan was a political discussion which was up to the government. -0-