TURKISH FM TO VISIT YEREVAN
Trend
March 2 2009
Azerbaijan
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan will visit Yerevan on April 16-17,
Turkish newspaper Sabah reported.
Babacan’s visit will be held as part of a meeting of the Black Sea
Economic Cooperation foreign ministers. Armenian Foreign Minister
Edward Nalbandyan invited his colleague to the meeting one month
ago. However, only now Babacan consented to the invitation.
Turkey and Armenia are attempting to normalize their relations, which
were severed in 1993. The reason for severing the diplomatic relations
was Yerevan’s anti-Turkish campaign aimed at recognizing the so-called
"Armenian Genocide" and occupation of Azerbaijani territory.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul accepted the proposal of Armenian
President Serzh Sargsyan to visit Armenia to watch a football match
between Armenia and Turkey on Sept. 6, as part of the European
championship. After the visit, diplomatic efforts to normalize
relations between the two countries have been underway.