WRAPUP 4-Turkey and Armenia draw up "road map" to mend ties

Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:16pm BST
 
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* Turkey, Armenia agree road map to normalise ties

* Azerbaijan says agreement threatens to raise tensions

* Deal on eve of remembrance day for killings of Armenians

* Washington wants it "within a reasonable timeframe"

(Adds more from Western diplomat, details)

By Ibon Villelabeitia and Matt Robinson

ANKARA/YEREVAN, April 23 (Reuters) - Turkey and Armenia have agreed on a road map to normalise ties after nearly a century of hostility, a move quickly welcomed by the European Union and the United States, but which could upset oil-rich Azerbaijan.

The deal, weeks after President Barack Obama urged Turkey to resolve the issue, came on the eve of the commemoration of mass killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks in 1915. The two states since last year have held high-level talks to restore ties.

"The two parties have achieved tangible progress and mutual understanding in this process and they have agreed on a comprehensive framework for the normalisation of their bilateral relations," the foreign ministries of Turkey and Armenia said.  Continued...

 

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