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Ahmet Unal Chevikoz leads the Turkish delegation at the secret Turkish-Armenian meetings

18 July 2008 14:39 (UTC +04:00)

Turkish Deputy Head of Foreign Ministerâ€™s Office on Caucasus, Central Asia and Middle East was leading such meetings, APA Turkish bureau reports. In 2002 this was Gunduz Aktan, now MHP parliamentarian from Istanbul, who led the negotiations and now former Turkish ambassador to Azerbaijan, present Deputy Head of Foreign Ministerâ€™s Office Ahmet Unal Chevikoz supposed to lead the Turkish delegation at the meetings. The meetings usually were held in Vienna so far. Turkish sources said Bern meeting was held on July 8 at the suit of the United States. â€œA month ago during his address to Congress, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried called on Armenia to recognize the Turkeyâ€™s territorial integrity and existed borders. Turkey approached it with restraint and later Serzh Sargsyan invited President Abdullah Gul in Astana to watch the Armenia-Turkey match in Yerevan on September 6. These meetings donâ€™t give evidence of any change in the Turkeyâ€™s policy toward Armenia. The last meeting is like feeling the Armeniansâ€™ pulse to specify will Abdullah Gul visit Armenia or not. Changing policy toward Armenia is not only a job of government or Foreign Ministry, but the position of Army, leading non-governmental organizations, universities and other bodies should also coincide with changing policyâ€.