Turkish politicians to arrive in Yerevan in November
Turkish politicians, who were in Armenia last week, left the country in utter disappointment. Chairman of Strong Turkey Party (GTP) Tuna Beklevic and deputy chairman Baybars Orsek were detained in Yerevan on October 29.
The arrest came after the group announced that they had crossed the Armenia-Turkey border early in October. They were released after spending a few hours in the National Security Service of Armenia.
"We were asked to leave the territory of Armenia because there was no doubt about the border crossing. There is an attempt to entrap us in this incident. Our action and aims are being undervalued through this. The ones who have benefits from the state of the closed border, are the ones who are limiting the situation with the border crossing. As a result, we do not want to speak on this border crossing anymore. We did want to mention the state of the closed border between Armenia and Turkey. We should focus on this. This border should be opened immediately," Tuna Beklevic wrote in a letter to A1+.
The GTP chairman says they have lots of supporters in Armenia who are pushing them not to give up.
Tuna Beklevic is planning to come to Yerevan with the other political party representatives this month. They will convene a conference in Armenia to elaborate and present a roadmap to Armenian and Turkish authorities.
"In addition to the conference in Yerevan, we will organize another big conference in Tbilisi that we will invite leaders from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, and Turkey," wrote Beklevic.
Armenian and Turkish analysts think the excitement over the border opening will faint away before the parliamentary elections in Turkey.
Tuna Beklevic rejected the opinion in an interview with A1+ in Yerevan.
"Our actions are not linked to the parliamentary elections. We see that our government does not approve of our actions. We have raised the issue of border reopening since the establishment of Strong Turkey Party," said Beklevic.
The Turkish delegates had arrived in Armenia to present the Ministry of Foreign Affairs their proposals on the reopening of the border.
