The attendance of the Armenian Foreign Minister at the Alliance of Civilizations summit has become a mystery after he failed to board a flight from Yerevan Sunday night as expected.

His strong language in his statements to Interfax news Sunday denying that the Karabakh issue is not related to establishing relations between Turkey and Armenia were interpreted as a reaction to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s statements. 

Turkey will not lift its blockade of Armenia unless the country fulfils Turkey’s preconditions regarding the Karabakh issue and the international recognition of the Armenian claims regarding the 1915 incidents, Erdogan said in London Friday during the G20 summit.

Nalbandian’s delay in traveling to Istanbul was also taken as discontent over Erdogan’s statements. Armenian Foreign Ministry officials early Monday said Nalbandian will not attend the summit in Istanbul.

Meanwhile Turkish foreign ministry sources insisted that he would be arriving in Turkey as planned. After hours of inarticulate and confusing messages Hurriyet Daily News learned that Nalbandian will arrive in Istanbul late Monday afternoon and will only attend the reception hosted by President Abdullah Gul and dinner hosted by Prime Minister Erdogan later.

Sources confirmed that Nalbandian will skip other meetings that he initially intended to attend within the framework of Alliance of Civilization. However they declined to comment whether this change in Nalbandian’s decision was due to Erdogan’s recent statements.  

Diplomatic observers say that the recent tensions between Ankara and Yerevan may adversely affect the expected announcement for establishing relations between the two countries before April 24.

Source: Hurriyet
URL: www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/domestic/11376241.asp?scr=1