Armenian-Turkish expert discussions held in Istanbul and
Ankara
21-07-2010 19:00:00 | | Politics
ANKARA, JULY 21, NOYAN TAPAN. Eurasia Partnership
Foundation (EPF) held Armenian-Turkish expert discussions in
Istanbul and Ankara on July 8-9 with the participation of the
Istanbul-based Global Political Trends Center (GPTC) and with
the financial assistance of the USAID.
GPTC organized the conference entitled "Armenia-Turkey
expert discussions" at Istanbul Culture University on July 8.
Among participants were Armenian, Turkish and international
reporters, diplomats and experts.
Ambassador, lecturer of Yerevan State University (YSU)
David Hovhannisian and senior advisor of Istanbul Center of
Political Science at Sabanci University Evust Lagendayk were the
main speakers of the round table discussions moderated by
Chairman of the Board of Anadolu Kultur organization Osman
Kavala.
Following the conference, the Armenian group visited Dogan
Media Center where the group members met with the famous Turkish
reporter, political commentator and writer Mehmed Ali Birand and
CNN Turk television company advisor Ferhat Boratav and toured
the offices of the media center.
On the second day the group went to Ankara to meet with
several high-ranking Turkish officials. At the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, Turkey's Deputy Foreign Minister Feridun
Sinirlioglu received the group of representatives of GPTC and
EPF. He spoke about the current state of Armenian-Turkish
relations and the ministry's approaches to the future of these
relations.
Then the group visited Turkish parliament and met with MP
of Justice and Development Party, deputy chairman of the Foreign
Affairs Subcommittee Suat Kinikoglu and MP of the same party,
former foreign minister, Ambassador Yasar Yakis, who informed
the group members about the government approaches and positions
on the Armenian-Turkish normalization process and responded to
their questions.
According to the press release submitted to NT, the
meetings in Istanbul and Ankara were a continuation of the
Yerevan discussions. They were part of the USAID-financed
project "The Further Steps of the Armenian-Turkish
Normalization".