24 April 2009
AssA-Irada, Sabah

The gist of the “road map” to normalize relations reached by the governments of Turkey and Armenia has been divulged by an influential Turkish newspaper.

The Sabah (Tomorrow) newspaper close to the Turkish government said the “road map”, which outlines future relations between Ankara and Yerevan, consists of five key provisions.

The first one says that Armenia, a former Soviet republic, accepts the 1921 Gars agreement signed by Turkey and the USSR, which draws up the current border between the two countries.

Secondly, a joint commission of historians is to be set up to research Armenian claims regarding the alleged World War I-era genocide in the Ottoman Empire. A third country could be represented in the commission as well.

The third provision envisions signing of documents on opening the Turkey-Armenia border and forging bilateral trade ties.

The fourth one says that Turkey and Armenia, having mutually accredited their ambassadors to neighboring Georgia in Ankara and Yerevan, will establish diplomatic ties.

The fifth provision stipulates that any issues reflected in the “road map” that require legislative approval will be discussed in the parliaments of the two countries.

Although the Armenia-Azerbaijan Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh conflict is not reflected in the document, the Turkish-Armenian rapprochement will be carried out along with seeking ways to resolve the long-standing dispute, Sabah said.

It was previously reported that first, the Turkish-Armenian border will open once a week symbolically, to be followed by full gradual opening, but diplomatic sources have now refuted the reports. They say Armenia’s steps regarding the Garabagh conflict will play a crucial role in the border opening issue.

Meanwhile, Zakir Hashimov, the Azerbaijani ambassador to Turkey, said Turkish-Armenian ties should be forged simultaneously with the resolution of the Garabagh problem.

Asked when Baku could agree with the border opening, Hashimov told journalists that this was acceptable only after Armenia has withdrawn from five out of the seven Azerbaijani districts around Upper Garabagh it currently occupies and Azerbaijanis ousted from their land during the military conflict in the early 1990s have settled there. The remaining occupied regions - Upper Garabagh and the other two districts adjacent to it – are to be vacated in the further stages.

Turkish-Armenian ties have been strained for over a decade over historic differences. The “road map” is the first move by Ankara and Yerevan to mend ties since Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to its occupation of the territories of Azerbaijan, Turkey’s ally, and Armenian genocide claims.