InternationalPresident Sargsian meets with Ilham Aliyev, Abdullah Gul
Eastern Partnership launched in Prague
Published: Friday May 08, 2009
President Abdullah Gul of Turkey, left, grabs President Serge Sargsian's hand during their meeting at the EU summit in Prague on May 7, 2009. With them are Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian, center, and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu of Turkey, partly obscured on left.
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Yerevan - The presidents of Armenia and Turkey met on May 7 in the capital of the Czech Republic. Also present were the foreign ministers of the two countries, Edward Nalbandian and Ahmet Davutoglu. Following the September 6, 2008, meeting in Yerevan, this is the second meeting of the two presidents. It appears to have taken place in an atmosphere of camaraderie.
According to the Armenian president's press service, the two presidents considered their Prague meeting to be positive. An agreement was reached to "respect the previous terms that have been agreed upon and move normalizing of Armenian-Turkish relations forward without preconditions and within a reasonable time frame."
During the launch of the European Union's Eastern Partnership program in Prague, Armenia's president had bilateral meetings with France's Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, the foreign secretary of the United Kingdom David Miliband, and with Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the Commissioner responsible for External Relations and European Union's Neighborhood Policy. The leaders welcomed and expressed their support for Armenia-Turkey dialogue.
At the residence of the U.S. ambassador in Prague on May 7, Mr. Sargsian met with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev. The meeting lasted two and a half hours. During the first half hour of the talks, Foreign Ministers Nalbandian and Elmar Mammadyarov, and the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and the OSCE Chairman-in-Office's personal representative also took part.
The Armenian side has said that it views the Prague meeting as beneficial. Mr. Nalbandian and Mr. Mammadyarov have been commissioned to continue working within the framework of the Madrid Principles and do the preparatory work for the next Sargsian-Aliyev summit, which will take place in June in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group - Ambassador Yury Merzlyakov of Russia, Ambassador Bernard Fassier of France, and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza of the United States - issued a statement, which says that the "Prague meeting marks significant progress.
"The Presidents welcomed the co-chairs' plan to intensify and further their shuttle diplomacy to assemble all the elements required for a breakthrough. The co-chairs look forward to their next trip to the region and to prepare a further summit, as proposed to the presidents, in St. Petersburg in early June. The co-chairs expect that these coming meetings will allow for the concrete realization of a breakthrough on the Basic Principles by the end of the year," the statement read.
Presidents Sargsian and Aliyev participated in the first Eastern Partnership meeting in Prague. Six former Soviet republics are included in this initiative - Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The initiative foresees establishing closer ties with the European Union, deepening trade and economic relations, the easing of visa requirements, and boosting regional cooperation among members.
President Sargsian addressed the first meeting of the Eastern Partnership program.
