“Referring to “diplomatic sources,” the Turkish Zaman informed in its May 1 issue that Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish prime minister, is preparing “the second initiative,” i.e. the meeting with RA President Robert Kocharian.
Zaman wrote that, according to the information by the Staff of the Turkish PM, the tête-à-tête meeting of Erdogan and Kocharian is envisaged in Warsaw, where the CE Summit will be held on May 15-16. But before that, Kocharian and Erdogan will participate in another international arrangement. The 60th Anniversary of Victory in World War II will be celebrated in Moscow on May 8-9.
“The time and the place of the meeting haven’t been specified yet, but the opportunity of such a meeting will be created during the Summit. If Erdogan and Kocharian meet, they will discuss the statements on the genocide for the first time face to face,” Zaman wrote.
Victor Soghomonian, speaker of RA President, said in the interview to daily Azg that “nothing has been arranged yet.”
The Turkish newspaper emphasized that Ankara’s diplomatic initiative in the “issue of the statements on genocide” began by the exchange of the letters the leaders of both countries addressed to each other.
On April 10, Erdogan suggested Kocharian “to create a group of historians and other experts that would study the events and the developments of the past not only in the archives of Armenia and Turkey but also in the archives of third countries and would also inform the international community about the results of the research.” RA President mentioned in his response that “we have not the right to give these plenipotentiaries to the historians. Thus, we suggest establishing natural relations between two countries without any preconditions.”
Before Kocharian received the letter, the Turkish press, as well as The New York Times wrote that RA President refused the suggestion of the Turkish PM, trying to make the impression that Armenia avoids to unfold a discussion.
One shouldn’t exclude, that in this case also the Turkish press tries to speak of the probable meeting between Erdogan and Kocharian beforehand, so that they can blame Armenia for its unwillingness to meet if the meeting doesn’t take place.
If the meeting in Warsaw takes place that shouldn’t be considered as something extraordinary, as Kocharian has already met the Turkish PM twice. On June 15, 1998, Kocharian met with Suleymam Demirel, former Turkish PM in Yalta. The second meeting took place on November 17, 1999, within the framework of the OSCE Istanbul Summit. RA President calls this meeting a bilateral “display of good will.”
By Tatoul Hakobian
Yorumlar kapatıldı.