Turkey To Push Armenia Diplomacy In 3-Way UN Talks

A solution to that dispute is seen as crucial to any move to establish diplomatic ties between Turkey and Armenia.

Turkey believes Armenia is willing to discuss its long-running dispute with Azerbaijan and the three will meet this month at the United Nations in search of a solution, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Wednesday.

The talks are part of a drive by Ankara to end a century of hostilities with former Soviet Armenia, with which it has no diplomatic relations.

A breakthrough could have huge significance for Turkey's role as a regional power, for energy flows from the Caspian Sea and for Western influence in the South Caucasus region, where Russia and Georgia fought a short war last month.

Turkey closed its border with Armenia in 1993 in a show of solidarity with Azerbaijan, a Turkic-speaking ally which was fighting Armenian-backed separatists over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh.

A solution to that dispute is seen as crucial to any move to establish diplomatic ties between Turkey and Armenia.

"We are planning a triple meeting in New York as foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia. We believe this will contribute to the solution of problems," Babacan told broadcaster NTV.

"We viewed the Armenian side as willing to discuss Azeri-Armenian problems with us. This is why we proposed a triple meeting," he said.

President Abdullah Gul became the first Turkish leader to visit Armenia on Saturday, a landmark encounter which officials said could help restore strained ties between the two countries and boost security in the Caucasus.

Bilateral relations are haunted by killings of ethnic Armenians at the hands of Ottoman Turks during World War One. Armenians, backed by some Western historians, say the killings constituted genocide. Ankara denies this and says many Turks were killed in the fighting.

Russia's war with Georgia, which borders Turkey, has added urgency to the diplomatic drive. Turkey, a transit state for Caspian and Central Asian oil and gas exports to Europe, was alarmed by the conflict and wants to play a bigger role in Caucasus security.

Better ties with Armenia could also boost Turkey's troubled European Union membership bid.

Gul will hold talks with his Azeri counterpart in Baku on Wednesday to discuss a Turkish proposal to establish a security and cooperation platform for the Caucasus and to brief the president on his visit to Armenia.