Deputy: Armenian-Turkish state border to be opened in two-three years

YEREVAN, March 9. /ARKA/. Head of parliamentary fraction of the governing Republican Party of Armenia Galust Sahakyan believes the Armenia-Turkish border will be opened in the nearest couple of years.

At a press-conference on Monday he said there is a base for that. “Turkey tends to become a member of the European Union, but EU countries do not recognize economic borders,” said Sahakyan.

According to him the bilateral relations that have been formed in the result of contacts between presidents of Armenia and Turkey will contribute to opening of the border in the nearest couple of years.

At the same time Sahakyan reminded that Armenia is ready to open the borders without any preconditions. Recently a thaw is observed in the relations between Armenia and Turkey. Last September 6, Turkish President Abdullah Gul was in Yerevan for the first time at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart to be present at a football match between the Armenian and Turkish national teams as part of the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers. Sargsyan’s return visit to Turkey is expected.

There are no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey and the state border has been closed since 1993 on Ankara’s initiative. Turkey has set a number of pre-conditions for improving bilateral relations, namely, Armenia’s abandoning the policy of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide and recognizing Turkey’s present-day borders. G. S. –0--