Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-02-16-Speech-3-182"
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"en.20000216.10.3-182"2
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"Mr President, Mrs Schleicher’s question is about a regional conflict, and at first sight, the question appears to assume that our relations with Turkey and Armenia are merely bilateral. It is obvious that underlying this question is the key issue of Nagorno-Karabakh and also Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan, which have repercussions here of course, given the special relationship that Azerbaijan has with Turkey. Nevertheless, as regards the relationship that interests us – the relationship between the European Union and Armenia – the entry into force of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in July 1999 and the first meeting that we held in October last year show how seriously the European Union takes its relations with Armenia. One of our aims is to extend commercial relations in the area of trade and investment in particular. Another aim is to maintain a bilateral political dialogue with Armenia, in view of its major role in that subregion.
As I said, Nagorno-Karabakh is an issue which it is still vital to resolve and one which of course threatens the stability of the southern Caucasus. In our view, all efforts to achieve a solution to this conflict must be intensified. This must be our top priority. The European Union has been endeavouring to facilitate this process and we are of course also aware that Turkey must adopt a constructive attitude towards this matter and play a major role in it. In December 1999, as we all know, Turkey was accepted as a candidate for membership of the European Union. Political dialogue with Turkey will be stepped up in view of this new situation. The presidency of the European Union, which I myself represented, visited Ankara immediately after that decision and we stressed to the Turkish authorities the importance of strengthening political dialogue between us. In particular, we stressed the need for us to take advantage of Turkey’s own importance in the region, particularly in relation to central Asia and the Caucasus. We will try to reach common positions on international issues in the context of this relationship with Turkey, one which we would like to see become ever closer politically speaking. As I have said, this applies in particular in view of the region of which Turkey forms a part, and given the importance of its strategic geographical position. We hope that Turkey will adopt a constructive and positive attitude. Above all, we hope that, in the political dialogue preceding the whole run-up to negotiations, Turkey will be able to accept the European Union’s statements on common foreign and security policy. In this case, I feel that Turkey will not be able to avoid our interpretation of the need to find reasonable solutions to the Nagorno-Karabakh situation, respecting the legitimate aspects of both Armenia and Azerbaijan’s positions."@en1
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