Babacan: "Turkey will soon start talks towards normalization between Azerbaijan and Armenia"

Addressing Parliament yesterday, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Turkey aims at normalizing relations not only between Turkey and Armenia but also Azerbaijan and Armenia. To this end, Babacan said, Turkey will start comprehensive political consultations within a few weeks. Stating that the Azeri and Armenian presidents will meet three times next month to discuss their problems in detail, Babacan expressed hope that issues between the countries could be solved in the months ahead. Babacan also gave assurances that Turkey would not take any step which would harm Azeri interests. Criticizing US President Barack Obama's recent message on the so-called Armenian genocide claims, Babacan said, "The lack of any mention of the fact that hundreds of thousands of Turks were also killed in the events is one of the serious deficiencies of the text." Babacan reiterated that Turkey has proposed establishing a joint committee of historians to study what happened in 1915, adding that it was unacceptable for Obama to express a judgment before the committee reaches a conclusion on whether the events amounted to genocide. "We will remain loyal to historical facts and refute unfounded claims no matter who makes them," Babacan said.

Ten soldiers were killed and two others were wounded in two separate attacks by the terrorist PKK yesterday. In the first attack, nine soldiers were killed and two others were wounded by an explosion in Lice while traveling in an armored vehicle along the Diyarbakir-Bingol highway. One soldier was also killed by the PKK in an attack in Hakkari's Semdinli district. The Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) launched ground and air operations against PKK terrorists following the attacks. After the attacks, Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug told reporters that there is no room for pessimism in combating terrorism, and added that these attacks would not weaken Turkey's resolve. Speaking about the attacks, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the fight against terrorism will continue persistently and fearlessly. In a separate development, former Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk, currently a lecturer at Bilkent University, escaped unscathed from an explosion at the university yesterday after a woman approached him and detonated a bomb. She ignited the fuse of the bomb concealed on her person, but the bomb failed to explode. One of Turk's bodyguards captured the young woman after the failed assassination attempt.