On October 10, 2003 Minister of Foreign Affairs Vartan Oskanian took part in a Yerevan Conference on Issues Relating to the Re-Opening of the Armenia-Turkey Border.

In his opening remarks, the Minister welcomed the timely initiative and the importance of expert opinion on this subject. He acknowledged that although opening the border may cause problems in certain sectors, but overall, he repeated that normalization of relations and open borders is beneficial to both sides.

The Minister discussed his recent meetings with his Turkish counterpart and Turkish efforts to decrease the linkage between the resolution of the Nagorno Karabagh conflict and normalization of Armenia-Turkish relations.

Vartan Oskanian explained that in the international experience, there have been cases where countries have normal relations in the absence of diplomatic relations, or where neighbors maintain diplomatic relations even if they close the border over some disagreement. He explained that is why Armenia is hopeful that relations can continue to improve, and that one situation does not contradict nor exclude the other.

The Minister reaffirmed that there are indeed complex issues which must still be resolved, but that they can be tackled with regular dialog and normal relations. Today, he concluded, we can say that dialogue has started, and especially after Azerbaijan's presidential elections, proceed with new meetings and come up with answers on specific questions.