Thursday, July 13 2017 12:59

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.