Armenian president calls on Turkey to reconcile its own past on the eve of Armenian genocide centennial

YEREVAN, November 29. / ARKA /. The Eastern Partnership should become a natural bridge that promotes integration from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan said today in a statement made at the third Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius. 

“In this sense we are committed to undertake consistent efforts towards building a more inclusive Europe free of dividing lines,’ he said, adding that this very understanding is the guiding milestone of Armenia’s foreign policy, “and it is precisely in this vein that we seek to settle problems with our neighbors by attempting to internalize the success stories of reconciliation in Europe at a regional level.”

“I believe that consistent adoption of the European values can help Turkey to reconcile with its own past. Today thousands of Turkish people condemn the Armenian Genocide and stand by us to commemorate the victims of the Genocide. I believe that on the eve of the Armenian Genocide Centennial the Turkish authorities should be able to demonstrate will and decline the policy of denial. 

In order to continue its integration with the European Union in a capacity of a European nation Turkey still faces the challenge of opening the last closed border in Europe and establishing diplomatic relations with Armenia. We expect that the EU member States, as our partners, will fully engage themselves and display consistency in order to remove the illegal blockade of Armenia by Turkey,’ the president said.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations; the border between the two countries was closed in 1993 by Ankara. Relations between Armenia and Turkey remain tense because of Ankara’s biased stance on Karabakh problem and its painful reaction to Armenia’s efforts to obtain worldwide recognition of the fact of Armenian Genocide. -0-