"Turkey wants communication with Armenia
Friday, January 14, 2005
In response to a question regarding the troubled ties with Armenia, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had opened the air corridor with Armenia as a goodwill gesture.
'We have always taken positive steps towards Armenia. The Most important one amongst them was the opening of the air corridor. Istanbul's Ataturk Airport is now open to Armenian Airlines with flights between Yerevan and Istanbul four times a week,' said Erdogan.
Turkey and Armenia does not have diplomatic relations. Ankara wants Yerevan to withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh and comply with a border agreement signed between the two countries in 1923. Armenia wants Turkey to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide and extend an official apology for the killing of Armenians during Ottoman Empire rule.
For the normalization of ties with Yerevan, the prime minister underlined Turkey's willingness to overcome the disputes with Armenia. 'We do not want a disgruntled neighbor. We want to overcome the problems. We think that there is a great benefit in eliminating problems such as Nagorno-Karabakh in a friendly way and we want to be hopeful on this matter.'
'We have always said we are ready to do our best,' added Erdogan. "
Turkish Daily News
