“NORMALISATION OF RELATIONS IS OF VITAL IMPORTANCE”

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“I welcome any step that will help reduce the tension in the Armenian-Turkish relations and raise the level of possible cooperation,” leader of the United Labour Party (MAK) Gurgen Arsenian told a press conference today while assessing Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s visit to Armenia.

He welcomed Serzh Sarkissian’s initiative targeted at bringing the process of the Karabakh conflict settlement to a more productive phase. According to him, the latest Russian-Georgian event showed that the normalisation of relations with Turkey is of vital importance for Armenia. “Armenia’s economy would be at the threshold of paralysis if the war lasted another 10 days,” he said. It’s necessary to normalise the relations between the two countries and establish economic, political and public ties.

Asked whether Turkey’s activeness can play a negative role in the Karabakh conflict resolution, Gurgen Arsenian said it’s necessary to apply diplomatic flexibility to avoid that danger. “If Turkey’s activeness can bring any danger, the leadership of the country should be able to neutralise it with its diplomatic tools: it’s already the task of diplomats,” Gurgen Arsenian said.

With regard to home issues, the MAK Leader said, “It is time the opposition and authorities started a dialogue. They had better have vis-à-vis meetings and debates.”

Gurgen Arsenian’s call for a dialogue was mostly addressed to the authorities as they have more chances and resources to start a dialogue. Anyway, he cited the Constitution and said that “power takeover is not excluded in Armenia as we are a democratic country.”