September 26, 2008 - 17:49 AMT
Gul going to erase problems between Armenia and Turkey
The Turkish president said Thursday he wants a positive climate to eliminate the problems between the two countries.

"I am very hopeful about this," he said in a meeting organized by the American-Turkish Society in New York.

He reminded that Turkey and Armenia do not have diplomatic relations, and their borders are closed, although Turkey was amid the countries, which recognized Armenia's independence in 1991.

"However, the two countries have had humanitarian activities," Gul said, reminding of Turkey's wheat assistance to Armenia in 1990s.

"My recent visit (to Armenia) was for a soccer game, but I did not only watch the game with Mr. Sargsyan. We had the opportunity to discuss bilateral relations, the Caucasus and Azerbaijan," he said.

Gul said it is necessary to solve regional problems through dialogue. "One of indicators that relations would normalize is the trilateral meeting the foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Armenia will hold in New York on Friday," he said. "What leaders should do is to eliminate the problems, not to feed enmities."

Gul said that many projects can be carried out between Turkey and Armenia, like establishing industrial zones at the border, after the problems are solved, Hurriyet daily reports.