Bsec Summit In Istanbul

[MosJan]

Al-Qaeda terrorists detained on eve of BSEC summit in Istanbul 25.06.2007 16:22 GMT+04:00 http://panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_print.gif http://panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_mail.gif http://panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_rus.gif http://panarmenian.net/news/images/ico_arm.gif /PanARMENIAN.Net/ Members of Al-Qaeda were detained on the eve of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Summit opening in Istanbul today. Five people, one of which was Chechen, were plotting terrorist acts against the BSEC leaders, Sabah news agency reports.

 

Investigation is being carried out.

 

Leaders of 10 states arrived in Istanbul to take part in the BSEC 15th summit. Armenia will be represented by Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian.

[MosJan]

Armenian and Turkish FMs discussed normalization of relations

25.06.2007 19:17 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

 

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian, who is currently in Istanbul, met with Turkish FM Abdullah Gul, RA MFA acting spokesman Vladimir Karapetian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. The parties discussed possible normalization of the Armenia-Turkish relations. At that Vartan Oskanian confirmed Armenia’s position to establish relations with Turkey without preconditions.

 

Vartan Oskanain also met with Georgian FM Gela Bejuashvili and Greek FM Dora Bakoyannis

 

The Armenian Minister is in Istanbul for participation in the BSEC 15th anniversary summit.

 

[MosJan]

Armenia Urges Turkey To Open Border

 

By Gareth Jones, Reuters

 

Armenia appealed to Turkey on Monday to open their shared border, saying this was the essential first step for making any progress on historical disputes that divide the two countries.

 

Turkey closed the border in 1993 to protest against Armenia's occupation of territory inside Azerbaijan, Ankara's close Turkic ally. Ties between Ankara and Yerevan have also been strained by Armenia's claim -- backed by many other countries -- that its people suffered a systematic genocide at Ottoman Turkish hands in 1915. Turkey denies any genocide took place.

 

"First and foremost, to address the problematic issues between us, we need as a bare minimum an open border between our two countries," Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian told a news conference in Istanbul. "This is how civilized countries operate ... The only closed border on the European continent today is that between Turkey and Armenia."

 

But Oskanian, in Istanbul for a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC), said his talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday gave little ground for hope. "There is no change in the Turkish position," he said, adding that Armenia hoped that after July 22 elections in Turkey a new government might be ready to review the border policy.

 

Ankara says Armenia must first reach a peace settlement with Azerbaijan over the disputed province of Karabakh, an enclave populated by ethnic Armenians inside Azeri territory. On the genocide issue, Turkey has proposed forming a joint commission of Turkish, Armenian and other historians to investigate the events of 1915 and to determine whether they constituted genocide.

 

Ankara acknowledges that large numbers of Armenians living in Turkey were killed or deported during that period, but not in a systematic genocide. It says many Muslim Turks also perished in fierce inter-ethnic conflict as the Ottoman Empire collapsed.

 

Oskanian said Armenia would consider taking part in such a commission if the border were opened and normal diplomatic ties established between the two countries. But he also criticized the Turkish commission proposal, saying it was an attempt to discourage parliaments around the world from recognizing the Armenian massacres as genocide.

 

Turkey fears the U.S. Congress may in the coming months approve a resolution recognizing the killings as genocide, following the lead of the European Parliament and legislatures in France, Russia, Greece, Canada and many other countries.

 

In Turkey, asserting that there was an Armenian genocide is a crime.

 

(Photolur photo)

[MosJan]

POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT OF ARMENIA-TURKEY RELATIONS DISCUSSED ON OSKANIAN-GUL MEETING

 

Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Turkey Vardan Oskanian and Abdullah Gul met yesterday in Istanbul in the frameworks of the BSEC summit. Press center of the Armenian Foreign Ministry informs that the Ministers discussed the possible ways of improving the relationships between Armenia and Turkey.

 

Vardan Oskanian once again confirmed that Armenia is ready to start a dialogue with Turkey without any preconditions. France Presse agency, referring to an anonymous Turkish diplomat, reports that Oskanian said to his colleague Gul that Armenia is interested in improving its relations with Turkey and that opening the Armenian-Turkish border would be very effective for that.

 

In answer Gul said that Armenia should work on settling its conflict with Azerbaijan on Nagorno-Karabakh. "Liberty" reports that Gul also said that Turkey has certain expectations of Armenia. The Turkish foreign Minister hinted the proposal of organizing a joint scientist group on studying the Armenian Genocide, which was denied by the Armenian side.

 

In Istanbul the head of the foreign office of Armenia met also with his colleagues from Georgia and Greece, Gela Bejhuashvili and Dora Bakoiani.

 

By A. Haroutiunian

[MosJan]

ALIEV AGAIN MAKES UNCLEAR STATEMENTS

 

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15th summit of Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSECO) closed after one-day discussion in Istanbul today adopting a declaration reflecting cooperation among member states in economy, politics, culture and social fields. The summit separately discussed organized crime and fight against terrorism. The declaration also suggests that BSECO joins World Trade Organization in order to eliminate restrictions between them. In his speech, Azeri president Ilham Aliev said that Azerbaijan will fulfill its obligations in terms of oil and gas supply. Armenia has occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan and has caused 1 000 000 Azeries to migrate. If the conflict is not settled by peaceful means, it will be settled by other means, Aliev said. Armenian foreign minister did not react to these high statements made by Azerbaijan. Instead, he said lifting Armenia-Turkey border is the best way to settle Armenian-Turkish relations..

[Johannes]

The land of Artsakh (Kara bag) is more expensive than any open relationships and borders.

The land of Artsakh is more important than any material, earning, and dealing.

In the future, the land of Artsakh gives fortunes more than what the Armenian politicians are seeking begging in the occupied Constantinople.

However, it is important for Armenia's prosperity, to have opened frontiers, but not by giving lands.

Armenia indeed needs more lands to feed himself.

During last centuries, Armenia's (historical) borders carved, cut. Armenia is too small, so the eternity of the Armenian nation is under a big question mark with these borders. Therefore giving lands or Turkish ruling of Armenian Artsakh (Karabagh) will damage the existence of the Armenians. It is life or death case for us, but it is not the same situation for the eastern artificial Turkish state which, the so-called Azerbaijan. Ask Hellector about Azerbaijan, he will tell you the real tale of stolen heritage and the stolen name of Aturpatakan.

Our real politic ideologist must know that their colleagues of the other side also know this fact. The fact that without enough areas Armenia cannot exist more.

Therefore, when they conditioning land to open borders, they know well Armenia will deny this condition.

Edited June 27, 2007 by Johannes

[MosJan]

TURKISH MASS MEDIA SOURCES PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION TO OSKANIAN-GUL MEETING

 

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Abdullah Gul, Turkish Foreign Minister, stated that Gul said Armenia should try to resolve its territorial disputes with neighboring Azerbaijan, suggesting that this would help the landlocked country to resolve its problems with Turkey, too.Zaman, Turkish newspaper, reported that Gul made the suggestion at a rare meeting with Vartan Oskanian, RA Foreign Minister, within the framework of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Summit in Istanbul. Neighbors Turkey and Armenia have no formal ties due to disputes over Yerevan's support for Armenian Diaspora efforts worldwide to win international recognition for the genocide of Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Empire as well as due to the "continuing occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan, by Armenian forces." Turkey also refuses to open its border gate with Armenia, closed "following Armenian occupation of Nagorno-Karabakh in the past decade, unless there is an improvement in Armenia's stance."

 

Oskanian said at the closed-door meeting with Gul that Armenia wanted to improve ties with Turkey and stressed that the reopening of the border would help mend fences, a Turkish diplomat close to the talks said. Gul, however, responded that Armenia should work to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. "We also expect some gestures from you," the diplomat quoted Gul as saying, in reference to a Turkish proposal to set up a joint committee of Turkish and Armenian academics to study the genocide allegations. At a press conference following his talks with Gul, Oskanian expressed disappointment at the lack of progress. He said unlike leaders of the rest of other member countries of BSEC, Armenian President Robert Kocharian declined to come to Istanbul to attend the 12-nation organization's 15th anniversary summit because there were no diplomatic relations between Turkey and Armenia.

 

He noted that Kocharian had come to Turkey when he first came to power in 1998, to attend a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) because he then had high hopes for peace and progress. "Unfortunately there has been no change since then," he told the conference. Oskanian reiterated that Armenia had no precondition for improvement of relations with Turkey but complained that Turkey had clear conditions to take any step in this direction. The Armenian foreign minister criticized Turkish conditions to open the border gate and claimed that they were not "justifiable."

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[Johannes]

turks must not declare about any conditions, because the sins of turkish existence in this territory are limitless. Instead of repenting they still giving lectures. Edited June 28, 2007 by Johannes

[MosJan]

ներկայիս իրավիճակը պահանջում եմ ճըկունութուն

ամեն ինչ իր ջամանակը ունի

ամեն շուն & շան որդի իր սատկելու օրը - համպերիր որդիս համպերիր

[MosJan]

Oskanian didn’t hold informal talks with Mammadyarov in Istanbul

27.06.2007 14:42 GMT+04:00 Print version Send to mail In Russian In Armenian

 

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian did not hold any talks with his Azeri counterpart Elmar Mammadyarov in Istanbul, RA MFA acting spokesman Vladimir Karapetian told a PanARMENIAN.Net reporter. “All BSEC FMs were sitting at the same table during the dinner but Vartan Oskanian was sitting at a distance from the Azeri Foreign Minister and there was no talk between them,” Karapetian underscored.

 

Meanwhile ANS-Press reported that Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian held informal talks with Elmar Mammadyarov during the dinner. The Azeri new agency quoted Minister Oskanian allegedly saying, “Yes, I discussed some issues with Mr Mammadyarov. However, due to the absence of the OSCE MG Co-chairs the talks were informal. That is why I can’t tell what we were speaking about.”