TURKEY HAS STRICT CONDITIONS FOR ARMENIA, STIPULATING DIPLOMATIC RELATION ESTABLISHMENT WITH THEIR FULFILLMENT

Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem has laid down a number of strict, prior conditions before Armenia for the diplomatic relation establishment and the transport blockade raising. As “Arminfo” agency reports with reference to “Khyuriet” newspaper issued in Ankara, at the Reykjavik meeting of foreign ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Turkey, Ismail Cem stated Armenia would have to meet four necessary conditions. First of all, Yerevan, according to him, has to give up the political idea of genocide realizing that only historians should study this issue. The Turkish side also demanded to withdraw the Armenian constitution’s terms somehow or other concerned with territorial claims regarding Turkey. According to the Turkish foreign minister, Armenia has to liberate the “occupied” territories and to create “a security corridor” between Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan. At the same time Ismail Cem drew Armenia’s attention to the fact that Turkey is the OSCE Minsk group member and intends to “assist” in the process of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. According to him, after the September 11 terrorist act in the USA, “the situation in Nagorno Karabakh has taken on special significance”. The Turkish foreign minister expressed hope for the expansion of NATO antiterrorism action, in which Turkey is taking part, to the Caucasus territory.