EU praises Gul's decision

President Abdullah Gul's upcoming "historic" visit to Yerevan constitutes a strong and encouraging gesture for relations between Armenia and Turkey, said the European Council Presidency yesterday in a statement. "(We hope and wish) that this extremely symbolic visit will create the normalization of relations between the two countries," the EU statement said. It also stressed the importance of Caucasus stability and cooperation. In related news, European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn said that the crisis in Georgia has underlined the importance of good neighborly relations in the region, including Turkish-Armenian relations. Rehn added that a normalization of relations would boost stability in the region, and also lay the groundwork for strong regional cooperation.