Prodi Urges Turkey to Reopen Armenian Border

During an official visit this week to Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, Romano Prodi, head of the European Commission, said Ankara must reopen its border with Armenia as a condition for eventual membership. "Personally, I do not like that the Armenian-Turkish border gate is closed," he said, according to Armenia's Medimax news agency. "I do not exclude that the issue of closed borders could be one of the preconditions for Turkey's membership." It was the first time an EU official linked the border situation to accession talks. Turkey closed its gate with Armenia and severed its diplomatic ties a decade ago, in protest of Armenia's occupation of the Azeri territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. (EUobserver.com)