YEREVAN (Armenpress)–During a recent interview with the Turkish press–Turkey’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul announced–"Out of all its neighbors–Turkey has problems only with Armenia." He said Turkey is willing to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and open borders if the latter recognizes the territorial integrity of Turkey and gives up territorial claims.
Asked to comment on the announcement–spokeswoman for the Armenian Foreign Ministry Dzyunik Aghajanian–said that Armenia has consistently stood for normalization of relations with Turkey without preconditions. Such relations–she emphasized–"would allow for discussion on various issues–including the most sensitive ones."
Diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey are nonexistent. The latter shut off road and rail links with Armenia in 1993–declaring they would reopen once Armenian forces withdrew from Nagorno-Karabagh.
The only direct transportation between the two countries is a weekly bus from Istanbul and Trabzon to Yerevan via Georgia–and a bi-weekly flight between Istanbul and Yerevan.
