POLITICAL ANALYST: ARMENIAN PRESIDENT’S VISIT TO TURKEY TO TAKE PLACE
ARKA
Aug 24, 2009
Yerevan, August 24. /ARKA/. The Armenian President’s visit to Turkey
will take place, the director of the Caucasus Institute Alexander
Iskandaryan said.
"The Armenian-Turkish process is not stalled. I do not think that
we can expect dramatic breakthroughs, although some progress is
possible. This is why Serj Sargsyan’s visit to Turkey should take
place" the political scientist went on during the press conference
on Monday.
At the invitation of Turkish President Gul, President of Armenia,
Serj Sargsyan, may visit Turkey in October 2009.
The reason for the invitation is the return football game, which will
be held in Bursa, between Armenia and Turkey in the World Cup 2010
qualifying round.
President Gul has already visited Armenia on September 6, 2008, when
he attended a football match between Armenia and Turkey in Yerevan
with his Armenian counterpart.
As the Armenian political analyst thinks, as of the moment there are
different possibilities of the development of the Armenian-Turkish
relations and the door for the continuation of the process more open.
The process of normalization of Armenian-Turkish relations will
develop further.
The situation over the past year and a half in the Armenian-Turkish
process is a major achievement itself, since the parties had moved
on to discuss specific issues.
According to the analyst, if 4-5 years ago all the discussions about
Turkey amounted to the stories and issues not related to politics and
the economy in Armenia, the current debate is concerning the opening
of the borders, albeit with a historical emphasis.
"The same thing is happening in Turkey. In both countries there are
both supporters and opponents of this step. What is happening now is
a major shift – discussions are taking place, the Turkish President
visited Armenia and there is an opportunity for the next meeting,"
Iskandaryan said.
Armenia and Turkey do not have diplomatic relations and the
Armenian-Turkish border has been closed since 1993 on the initiative
of the official Ankara.
The complex relationship between the two countries is caused by
several factors related to, with Ankara’s support of Azerbaijan in the
Karabakh issue, as well as the acute reaction to Turkey’s process of
the international recognition of the 1915 Armenian Genocide in the
Ottoman Empire.