A. Gul: “That obstacle will soon be overcome”
"Turkey stands firm in solving issues with its neighboring countries," Turkish President Abdulla Gul announced in the interview with the Italian "La Stampa" newspaper.
Touching upon the Kurdish and Armenian issues, Gul underscored: "Taboos are eliminated when democracy increases in the country."
"When will Turkish and Armenian citizens finally be able to cross the common border?" In response, the Turkish President said:
"That obstacle will soon be overcome in the result of the Turkey-Armenia Protocols. Of course, there are still certain technical issues to solve because the Protocols must be ratified by both parliaments. But after that, there will be an exchange of ambassadors and the opening of the land border. The air border has been open for a long time now."
As far as the Armenian Issue is concerned, Gul mentioned that the Turkish side has proposed to create a historical commission with the participation of representatives from the third countries.
"Turkey has opened its military archives," Gul said and assured that Turkey is ready to accept the conclusion that the experts of the joint historical commission will arrive at.
"If we speak in general, the whole world is changing and so is Turkey," Abdulla Gul announced, adding: "Of course, there are those who are against the reconciliation. But we must not forget that this conflict has been going on for the past 100 years."
The Turkish President emphasized that Russia has played a much greater role in the opening of the Turkish-Armenian border and it is also active in the talks on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
"The time has come to resolve this issue. The region is in need of stability and cooperation," Abdullah Gul announced and added: "I hope that Yerevan and Baku will find the version for settling the issue. The heads of state are currently involved in the regional issues and not the second-degree officials," Gul said, as reported by "Azatutyun" radio.
