THIRD COUNTRIES USE THE ABSENCE OF RELATIONS BETWEEN ARMENIA AND TURKEY TO SUIT THEIR OWN ENDS

12.10.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. Until Armenia and Turkey start a dialogue, third countries will use the absence of diplomatic relations between them to suit their own ends, said today at a conference in Yerevan the Director of the Armenian Center for National and Strategic Researches, Raffi Hovanesian, who held the post of the foreign minister of Armenia in early 90s.
Hovanesian said that until the people of Armenia and Turkey and the governments of the two countries start an official or semi-official dialogue, other countries will use its absence to settle their own domestic problems. According to the ex-minister, a complex program must be worked out to normalize Armenian-Turkish relations, and the program should not bear any “populistic” character.
During his recent press-conference Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian officially proposed to his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem to start a dialogue, during which Ankara and Yerevan will discuss all the issues. -0-