ARMENIA * TURKEY * BORDER * OPENING * FM * COMMENT

The opening of the Armenian-Turkish border is Armenia’s state policy,

Vartan Oskanian said -06.10

Yerevan, October 6. /Mediamax/. The opening of the Armenian-Turkish

border is Armenia’s state policy, Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan

Oskanian said at a briefing in Yerevan today.

At the same time he noted that the opening of the border from the

Armenian side did not mean that it was a necessity only for Armenia.

“Turkey needs it as well,” said Vartan Oskanian. According to Minister,

the opening of the border will positively affect the whole region.

Speaking on the possibility of dependence of the Armenian economy

development on the opening of the border, Vartan Oskanian expressed

confidence that the country’s economic programs were not related to this

problem. Armenia’s economy has already adjusted to the blockade, and the

opening of the border would only give an additional impulse for its

development, he pointed out.

Discussing the issue of the opening of the border with his Turkish

counterpart, Armenian FM positively estimated the recent meeting in New

York, on the whole. According to Vartan Oskanian, Turkish Foreign

Minister has the desire to improve bilateral relations. He said that

during the meeting “the issue of the Karabakh conflict settlement was

not as urgent as it was before on the agenda of the improvement of

Armenian-Turkish relations.”

At the same time Armenian FM noted that “there are no reasons to say

that the Armenian-Turkish border will be opened in the near future”.