ArmInfo.Ankara wants to establish normal relations with Armenia. Deputy Chairman of the Turkish ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), deputy of the Turkish Parliament Ravza Kavakchi Kan, stated in an interview with the Armenian service of the Voice of America.
We have a long history with Armenia, and as with all our neighbors and supporters we would like to develop our relations with her, "she said.
According to her, the issue related to the Armenian Genocide, which Ankara does not officially recognize, should firstly be resolved in order to normalize relations. "I think it's important to build a better relationship. If the parties and international historians could resolve this issue, and if it would not interfere our relations and would allow us to intensify our cooperation in a number of areas, "she said.
In turn, former US ambassador to Turkey and Iraq, James Jeffrey, believes that Armenian-Turkish relations are under a thick layer of ice, since Turkey, which has rather complicated relations with Russia, regards Armenia as an ally of Russians and Iranians.
In his opinion, United States can play a positive role in this matter by assisting the sides in normalizing relations. However, he believes that in the foreseeable future, White House will be occupied with more pressing issues. "When I was Ambassador in Turkey, US was actively involved in the process of settling th Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations," the diplomat said. He added that the policy pursued by Woodrow Wilson 100 years ago has left its mark and since then Turkey has been suspicious of United States.