Obama, Sarkisian discuss Armenian-Turkish reconciliation
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian discussed his
country`s relations with Turkey in a telephone conversation with
his US counterpart Barack Obama, Armenian media quoted Sarkisian`s
press office as saying.
The conversation, initiated by Obama, took place during Sarkisian`s visit to Los Angeles where he continues his tour of Armenian communities to rally support for an agreement on normalizing relations with Turkey, due to be signed this weekend.
Turkey and Armenia have been at odds due to Armenia`s policy of occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian claims on the 1915 mass killings of their ancestors by Ottoman Turks. On August 31, the two neighbors reached a Swiss-brokered verbal agreement to conduct six weeks of domestic consultations before signing two protocols that seek to establish diplomatic ties and promote the development of bilateral relations.
The Armenian presidential administration said in a statement that Obama had confirmed US position that Armenia and Turkey should normalize their relations without preconditions and that it should not be linked with the settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
Sarkisian thanked the US president for Washington`s support in fostering an Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and for its mediating efforts within the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at reaching a negotiated Garabagh conflict settlement.
The statement also quoted Sarkisian as saying that ``the decision of the people of Upper Garabagh on their final status`` through a free expression of will is key to finding a sustainable solution to the conflict, as it is defined in the Madrid Principles, a proposed peace outline brought forward by the mediators in November 2007.
Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees displaced during the armed conflict in the early 1990s returned home, and only after that could the status of Upper Garabagh be determined within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
The conversation, initiated by Obama, took place during Sarkisian`s visit to Los Angeles where he continues his tour of Armenian communities to rally support for an agreement on normalizing relations with Turkey, due to be signed this weekend.
Turkey and Armenia have been at odds due to Armenia`s policy of occupation of Azerbaijani territory and Armenian claims on the 1915 mass killings of their ancestors by Ottoman Turks. On August 31, the two neighbors reached a Swiss-brokered verbal agreement to conduct six weeks of domestic consultations before signing two protocols that seek to establish diplomatic ties and promote the development of bilateral relations.
The Armenian presidential administration said in a statement that Obama had confirmed US position that Armenia and Turkey should normalize their relations without preconditions and that it should not be linked with the settlement to the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh.
Sarkisian thanked the US president for Washington`s support in fostering an Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and for its mediating efforts within the OSCE Minsk Group aimed at reaching a negotiated Garabagh conflict settlement.
The statement also quoted Sarkisian as saying that ``the decision of the people of Upper Garabagh on their final status`` through a free expression of will is key to finding a sustainable solution to the conflict, as it is defined in the Madrid Principles, a proposed peace outline brought forward by the mediators in November 2007.
Baku says the occupied districts must be freed and Azerbaijani refugees displaced during the armed conflict in the early 1990s returned home, and only after that could the status of Upper Garabagh be determined within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.
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