Armenia-Turkey Policy Discussions Held in Yerevan
Yerevan, Armenia - Eurasia Partnership Foundation (EPF) and the Istanbul-based Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) with funding from USAID, held Armenia-Turkey policy discussions at the Armenia Marriott Hotel in Yerevan from the 25th to the 26th of March, 2010.
The meeting brought together a number of distinguished opinion makers and media professionals from Turkey and Armenia. The list of participants included Ambassador David Hovhannisyan (Armenia); Ambassador Yalım Eralp (Turkey); Mr. Khosrov Harutyunyan, Member of Public Council of RA (Armenia); Mr. Mehmet Ali Birand, renowned Turkish journalist, political commentator and writer; representatives of international organizations, and others. U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie L. Yovanovitch, EPF Director Gevorg Ter-Gabrielyan, and GPoT Director Mensur Akgün welcomed the participants with opening remarks.
“The meeting today is part of a process to help lay a foundation for greater regional integration, something we believe to be very important that will lead to enhanced regional stability and enhanced economic cooperationand development in the two countries,” said Ambassador Yovanovitch. She noted that experiences in other countries show that civil society actors, individually, but more often, collectively, have come to play a new and important role in conflict resolution around the world. “Any activity, whether at the elite, middle-range, or grassroots level, aimed at transforming the cross-border relationship, contributes to progress and to an atmosphere more conducive to conflict resolution, and we hope that this initiative will bring us one step closer to improved dialogue and cooperation between Armenia and Turkey,” she said.
The meeting was part of EPF’s USAID-funded “Days Two and Three in Armenia-Turkey Rapprochement” project, which seeks to build ties and to develop mutual understanding among Armenian and Turkish peer groups in the non-government, media, and business sectors, helping them to contribute strategically to state efforts to build relations between the two countries. The discussions did not focus on Armenian-Turkish protocols but rather elaborated on the entire range of recent Armenian-Turkish developments. A special emphasis was made on what should be done within Track Two Diplomacy efforts to advance the process of normalizing Armenia-Turkey relations.