Azernews.Az

Armenia will not agree to participate in a joint commission to study the developments that took place in Ottoman Turkey in the early 20th century.
"We will not accept any notion negating genocide," commented Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian.
Armenians maintain that Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million people in 1915, a claim strenuously denied by the modern Turkish state.
At the same time, Nalbandian said Yerevan was looking to normalize its relations with Ankara. He noted that Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian`s recent invitation for Turkish President Abdullah Gul to attend a football match between the two countries` teams in Yerevan this September was an important step in this direction. "The ball is now on the Turkish side," Nalbandian said.
Both Turkish and Armenian officials have confirmed reports that the two countries were holding talks on normalization of ties. Turkey`s Huriyyet newspaper initially carried a report saying the two countries` diplomats had secretly met in Bern, Switzerland on July 8 for talks that lasted several days. According to the reports, Turkey called on Armenia to provide consent for establishing a joint commission to study the 1915 developments in exchange for forging diplomatic relations.
Ankara has repeatedly made clear that discussions on establishing ties with Yerevan could begin only after Armenia relinquishes its policy of occupying parts of Azerbaijan and relinquishing claims regarding the "Armenian genocide."
In defiance of international law, Armenia has occupied over 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory since the early 1990s.