Erdogan criticizes Sarkisian over pre-conditions for visit
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has
criticized Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian`s pre-conditions for
his expected visit to Bursa, Turkey, to attend a soccer match
between the two countries` national teams, due October 14.
In his address at Princeton University in New York last week, Erdogan called on the Armenian leader not to issue pre-conditions regarding the visit, Turkey`s Yeni Shafag newspaper reported.
Turkey and Armenia have been facing decades of hostility. However, there have lately been signs of an impending normalization in Ankara-Yerevan ties. The two countries` leaders attended a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match together in Yerevan in September 2008. Further, President Sarkisian was invited to Turkey by his counterpart, Abdullah Gul, for a return game.
Erdogan said a very sensitive stage has begun in Turkish-Armenian relations, and Sarkisian should not say ``I am coming or not coming`` to the soccer match at this time.
``Journalists have recently asked me what I think about this. So I said: `Our president went to Armenia to watch the game. If the Turkish president can easily travel there and back, he [Sarkisian] can easily come to Turkey as well. But saying `if you do so and so, I will come`, in my opinion, is now a discarded concept in international diplomacy.``
Sarkisian recently made demands to Turkey, warning he would travel to the neighboring country only after its border with Armenia opens.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory, Turkey`s ally, and Yerevan`s claims on the alleged World War I-era genocide.
In his address at Princeton University in New York last week, Erdogan called on the Armenian leader not to issue pre-conditions regarding the visit, Turkey`s Yeni Shafag newspaper reported.
Turkey and Armenia have been facing decades of hostility. However, there have lately been signs of an impending normalization in Ankara-Yerevan ties. The two countries` leaders attended a 2010 World Cup qualifying soccer match together in Yerevan in September 2008. Further, President Sarkisian was invited to Turkey by his counterpart, Abdullah Gul, for a return game.
Erdogan said a very sensitive stage has begun in Turkish-Armenian relations, and Sarkisian should not say ``I am coming or not coming`` to the soccer match at this time.
``Journalists have recently asked me what I think about this. So I said: `Our president went to Armenia to watch the game. If the Turkish president can easily travel there and back, he [Sarkisian] can easily come to Turkey as well. But saying `if you do so and so, I will come`, in my opinion, is now a discarded concept in international diplomacy.``
Sarkisian recently made demands to Turkey, warning he would travel to the neighboring country only after its border with Armenia opens.
Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 due to Armenian occupation of Azerbaijani territory, Turkey`s ally, and Yerevan`s claims on the alleged World War I-era genocide.
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