Armenian minister praises Turkish president's visit to Yerevan
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Armenia's Sports Minister said September's meeting between Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan in Yerevan was an important step, and attached importance to meeting between foreign ministers of two countries to be held in Istanbul on Monday. (UPDATED)
The second step would be taken with the visit of Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandian who would come to Turkey on Monday and the two countries would keep boosting the bilateral relations, Armen Grigorian told in an interview with Hurriyet daily published on Sunday.
There is no diplomatic relations between Armenia and Turkey, as Armenia presses the international community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting Turkey's call to investigate the allegations, and Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan.
But a warmer period began between Turkey and Armenia after Turkish President Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to Armenia in September on the occasion of a World Cup football game between the two countries' national teams.
Nalbandian will visit Istanbul on Monday to attend a meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC). Armenia took over the organization's presidency from Albania on Oct. 23.
The Armenian foreign minister will also meet his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan. During the meeting the parties are expected to discuss issues connected with the normalization of relations between Armenia and Turkey.
"I believe the meeting between the two foreign ministers would be the one that would contribute to the laying the foundation of peace bridge between two countries. Such steps would lead the people of two countries to become closer gradually," Grigorian told Hurriyet.