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Armenia, Turkey move to build ties

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-02 10:23

NICOSIA: Turkey hopes to open its border with Armenia by the end of the year under a protocol to establish diplomatic ties, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said yesterday.

The two countries, which have no diplomatic ties and a history of animosity stemming from the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks during World War I, announced late on Monday they would sign accords within six weeks under a plan to end a century of hostility.

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"If everything goes as planned, if mutual steps are taken, the borders could be opened around New Year," Davutoglu told Turkish NTV television during a visit to northern Cyprus.

The plan to normalize ties was announced in April, but Monday's statement marked the first real progress.

Under the agreement, both sides would hold domestic consultations before signing two protocols on the establishment of diplomatic relations and development of bilateral relations.

The protocols would have to be ratified by parliaments of the two countries.

In his first comment on the issue, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan stressed that the accords would not go into effect until the Turkish parliament had approved them.

Reopening the border and establishing ties with Armenia would increase predominantly Muslim Turkey's influence in the region and aid its faltering bid to join the European Union.

The bloc has long asked candidate member Turkey to normalize ties with its neighbor and restoring diplomatic ties would also be beneficial for regional security.

Diplomatic ties would also give landlocked Armenia, reeling from the global financial crisis, access to Turkish and European markets.

The normalization of ties with Armenia risks angering Azerbaijan, an energy supplier to the West and a key source of gas supplies for the planned Nabucco pipeline.

Reuters