Turk pres to accept Yerevan invite, expected to discuss regional issues

Turkey, which has no established diplomatic relations with its neighbor Armenia, therefore would have formal contact at the presidential level on the occasion of the football match. �

Sargsyan invited President Gul to Armenia to watch together the 2010 World Cup qualifying round game between the two countries national teams on Sept. 6 to mark "a new symbolic start in the countries' relations".�

Gul is expected to discuss the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute and Turkey's proposal for establishing a Caucasus alliance with Sargsyan, Radikal wrote.

This would be the first time that the Nagorno-Karabakh issue is on the agenda of a bilateral meeting, it added.

Turkey's proposal for a Caucasus alliance was the country's latest effort to promote peace between Georgia and Russia since they fought a war this month over Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia.

Turkey is among the first countries that recognized Armenia when it declared its independency. However there is no diplomatic relations between two countries, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's call to investigate the allegations, and its invasion of 20 percent of Azerbaijani territory despite U.N. Security Council resolutions on the issue.

A warming period had started between two neighboring countries when the two presidents exchanged letters after Sargsyan's election victory.

"NO DECISION MADE"

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, however, said on Monday no decision was made regarding Gul's visiting Yerevan.

"If President Gul pays a visit to Yerevan, this will be a reflection of Turkey's constructive efforts to contribute to peace and stability in its region and the international arena, not because of external pressures and impositions," Babacan added in his interview with the Anatolian Agency.

TUSIAD BACKS VISIT

Gul's acceptance of the Armenian president's invitation to attend the football match between on Sept. 6 in Armenia would contribute to the normalization of the relations with the neighboring country, to establish a mutual dialogue mechanism and to find a rational solution for the current problems, Turkey's influential business group, Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) said in a statement on Tuesday.