TURKEY’S SECURITY COUNCIL TO MULL OVER ARMENIA TIES
Asbarez
le=41712_4/21/2009_1
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
ANKARA (Combined Sources)–Turkey’s powerful National Security Council
(MGK), comprising top state officials and army generals, will meet
next week to discuss Turkey’s next step in its negotiations with
Armenia to establish diplomatic relations, the Turkish Today’s Zaman
Daily reported on Tuesday.
President Abdullah Gul will visit Baku shortly after the April 28
meeting to "inform the Azerbaijani administration about the decisions
Turkey has made regarding normalization with Armenia," Zaman said.
The agenda of the MGK meeting, chaired by Gul, will include a
discussion of recent developments in Iraq and the possibility of
granting an amnesty for PKK members, the normalization of relations
with Armenia and the deployment of Turkish troops in Afghanistan,
Today’s Zaman reported, citing anonymous government sources.
Until recently, media reports had said Turkey and Armenia would likely
sign soon an agreement on the gradual normalization of bilateral
relations. Talks, however, have hit a roadblock this month, following
US President Barack Obama’s visit to Turkey on April 6, where he told
the Turkish Parliament his views had not changed in reference to the
Armenian Genocide.
Analysts close to the negotiations believe Ankara’s recent push
to normalize ties with Yerevan were aimed at dissuading President
Obama from fulfilling his campaign pledge to recognize the Armenian
Genocide. Turkey repeatedly warned Obama that any recognition of
its crime against the Armenians would torpedo the talks to open the
closed borders.
Since Obama’s visit, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
repeatedly made clear that diplomatic relations will not be established
before a Karabakh settlement. The marked shift in Turkish rhetoric is
being reported by Western and Turkish media as a response to Azeri
warnings to retaliate if borders are opened before a Karabakh deal
acceptable to Baku is signed.
According to Zaman, the agenda item on Armenia-Turkey relations will
primarily focus on Azerbaijan’s reaction to the opening of the two
countries’ border.
Zaman said the Turkish Army General Staff and the Government both
agree that Ankara should not open its border with Armenia until a
settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.