Turkish, Armenian Diplomats Discuss Normalizing Ties
May 31, 2006
Armenians march through Yerevan in 2005 to mark the 90th anniversary of the start of what they believed amounted to a genocide of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire (ITAR-TASS)
This is the third round of talks since a dialogue was opened by an exchange of letters between Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Armenian President Robert Kocharian in April 2005.
A spokesman of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, Namik Tan, said Turkey is determined to pursue a normalization of relations, but also called on Armenia to show more flexibility.
In 1993, Turkey shut its border with Armenia in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan in the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Ties have also been strained by Armenian efforts to win international recognition of the 1915-17 killings of Armenians in Ottoman Turkey as genocide.
The day also saw a meeting between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his Turkish counterpart, Abdullah Gul. Lavrov will then meet with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer,
The agenda of the talks were expected to include the standoff over Iran's disputed nuclear program.
Both Russia and Turkey have trade links with Iran and fear that an escalation of the crisis could further destabilize the region.
(compiled from agency reports)