MOSCOW (Kommersant)—Efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Turkey are on the verge of a breakthrough, according to the European Union’s Special Envoy to the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby.
“Today the Armenian-Turkish talks have reached a point, where there can be a breakthrough,” Semneby was quoted by the Russian Kommersant Daily as saying in an interview Tuesday.
”It’s good that the Armenian-Turkish talks have moved from a dead point,” he said. “Sure, the process of ratification is going to be hard. But it proceeds from the interests of both Armenia and Turkey.”
The opening of the border, Semneby said, “could be the first step towards overcoming the abnormal situation” in the South Caucasus, where “three of the longest borders of the region are closed.”
Semneby was referring to the closed borders between Armenia and Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, and Russia and Georgia. Turkey closed its borders with Armenia in 1993 in solidarity with ally Azerbaijan, which was waging a war of aggression against Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic in the early 90s.The Russian-Georgian border has been closed since 2006.
This situation hinders normal development, he said, noting how the opening of the Armenia-Turkey border is in the interests of every actor in the region.
“I’m confident that in the long perspective it is in the interest of Azerbaijan, because it is also interested in the opening of borders in the region,” he said. “The war in Georgia demonstrated that the countries of the South Caucasus are vulnerable. This vulnerability can be relieved only after the problems are solved.”
Any unfair solution is much worse than no solution at all. The fair solution is granting independence to Nagorno Garabagh and returning Western Armenia to the Republic of Armenia. Anything less than this will deffer the problem of security in the region.
Bravo papken
indeed this is the real solution soon or later anything
else is waste of time
I understand that this European Official under name Mr. Semneby has not got real authority. He might be a servant of several masters (read secret services). One day, he shows his middle finger to the Armenian President (who was afraid to retalliate because of the fact that he was a criminal). The other day, Mr. Semneby listens to the opposition’s speech to discuss it with EU powerful persons. Something is wrong with this man.