President of European Commission Is not Sure About That

Armenia was the final destination of Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, during his South Caucasian visit on September 16-19. On the last day of his visit on September 19 Prodi stated during his joined press conference with foreign minister Vartan Oskanian that the EU member states are to decide whether the opening of the Armenian-Turkish border-gate may be a precondition for Turkey’s joining the EU or not. President Prodi noted farther on that he himself is displeased with the fact of closed border and added, "I will do everything for the border-gate to open and for development of relations between the two state". The Turkish press headed by Tyrkie, Zaman, Turkish Daily News immediately responded to Prodi’s words saying that Prodi suggests Armenian-Turkish border-gate opening as an extra precondition for Turkey. Marko Vignudelli, press secretary of the European Commission, was obliged to declare that the Armenian-Turkish border-gate opening cannot be viewed as a precondition for Turkey’s membership in the EU. This statement was made in Vignudelli’s interview to Zaman and was published in the September 22 edition. Although Prodi hasn’t excluded the possibility of the closed border’s issue be included in the preconditions offered Turkey, its interview with the Commission’s secretary Zaman entitled "European Commission Considers Armenia’s Precondition False". Another Turkish publication, Sabah, grounds on Romano Prodi’s words concerning the border-gate opening, and not secretary Vignudelli’s statement as Zaman did, and titles its article "The Armenian Border May be an Obstacle on the Way to EU". Thus, the Armenian-Turkish border-gate opening is likely to emerge as a precondition for Turkey’s membership. It will depend on future developments in Turkey-EU relations.