Ahmet Davutoglu
Armenian-Turkish reconciliation dominated Ahmet Davutoglu's discussions with Turkish academics in Britain and with journalists on the plane home.
While attending a conference in Oxford on 'Turkey’s foreign policy in a changing world', the Turkish foreign minister had breakfast with Turkish professors Baskin Oran, Sevket Pamuk, Sahin Alpay and Cengiz Aktar. He mainly spoke about Armenian-Turkish rapprochement and listened to the academics' proposals for changing the names of streets, setting up a monument on the border and taking measures against those sowing hostility. He also heard criticism for not focusing on Baku in normalizing relations with Armenia.
Davutoglu said at the meeting that the protocols were not dead, and Turkey would not allow them to die. No one has ever said Turkey is withdrawing the protocols. A turning wheel is difficult to turn back, and the developments will never 'turn back', Davutoglu said.
He said, however, that establishing relations with Armenia without considering Azerbaijan was out of the question. 'Tinkering' is no benefit, the minister said. Talks on the withdrawal of Armenian troops from some regions of Azerbaijan are still under way. If Armenia withdraws its troops from there, Turkish society will overcome a psychological barrier, and the borders can be reopened, Davutoglu said. Both Yerevan and Ankara would benefit.
Ahmet Davutoglu said that the Armenian-Turkish protocols were at a 'quite stage' now, Can Dundar wrote in Turkish newspaper Milliyet.
'Rather than harming the protocols, our proposals will soon receive approval – in a matter of months or even weeks,' Dundar quoted Davutoglu as saying.
News.am
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